I have been interested in microfinance since attending a presentation by Unitus (unitus.com) a few years ago. Even with all of the recent problems in our first-world economic markets, think of the few billion people who have no financial market infrastructure at all. No way to bank, no way to borrow, no way to manage risk, etc.
Anyway, microinsurance is one part of the microfinance movement and smart folks are trying to figure out how to get things like crop insurance and basic health insurance to the poorest regions of our planet. Imagine your family's entire income coming from growing rice and it being wiped out by a monsoon. Get the picture?
It turns out that microinsurance has a hard time selling itself: Insurance has proved its worth for centuries, but people still resist it. They don't like thinking about the possibility of bad things happening. That's why car insurance is mandatory--and health insurance may soon be. If supposedly financially sophisticated Americans have to be coerced to buy insurance, should we really expect people in less rich countries to be any different?
Other theories in this Time article are examined, but I found that explanation above to hit home. I'd prefer to see consumers feel there is value is the less-to-worry-about, and it looks like I've got an entire planet to convince. Better get to it!
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1921590,00.html
