A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation and Management

Thesis (M. Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2018

Insurance could be a substantial tool to mitigate the impacts of disasters to agriculture and its transient farmers. Due to this, the importance of insurance in disaster risk reduction and management has been gaining popularity. However, in reality the precept of integrating insurance schema to DRRM has been vague. Integration to build capacity is deemed necessary. The province of Nueva Ecija is a perfect study area to test the impact of disaster or agricultural insurance due to its affinity to agriculture. This research analyzed in general the current status of disaster insurance for farmers and its effects in selected municipalities in Nueva Ecija - is insurance really helping farmers to increase resiliency and how vulnerable are they. Primary and secondary data such as survey and interviews involving one hundred respondents (insured and non-insured farmers), experts from insurance providers and the government and the use of historical background and annual reports were used to address the objectives. Purposive, stratified and simple random sampling were employed. For data analysis, Microsoft Excel and SPSS were used to facilitate future studies and replication. Mainstreaming disaster insurance will not be easy as many farmers have failed to see the significance of it due to limited coverage and lack of knowledge on the availability of free insurance, though non-insured households are positive and welcoming of the disaster insurance. providing them microinsurance will also be helpful.