Risk Management Promotion and Bulgarian Farmers' Participation in the Insurance Market

Abstract

Agriculture is a particularly risky business. Along with the inherently high levels of production risk, the long- term changing climate contributes to the frequency of risky events in the sector - in recent years, weather events have become more extreme, and the frequency of damage is increasing. All this raises the question of the strategies used to manage production risk in agriculture. This paper analyses the participation of Bulgarian farmers in the insurance market and the impact of policy techniques to promote this risk mitigation strategy. The share of insured holdings in the total number is evaluated by comparing on the one hand with other member states of the European Union. On the other hand, a comparison is made between different types of farms in the country. On the basis of accepted criteria for assessing the degree of realization of the objectives of the public instruments for promoting insurance, the conclusion is made that the support has an insignificant effect on agricultural holdings in the country.