Dimensions for risk management in small agricultural enterprises: An application in the departments of Cundinamarca, Boyacá and Meta, Colombia

Abstract

Although small agricultural businesses play a fundamental role in Colombia's food security, insurance companies, whose mission is to guide the country's economic development, are still not decisively supporting this important sector. The objective of this study was to provide classification dimensions for agricultural risks so that insurance companies can have organized information that allows them to evaluate and consider policies in the sector. Small agricultural businesses located in the departments of Cundinamarca, Boyacá, and Meta were inspected. A total of 55 businesses were inspected, and the information obtained was classified into five different dimensions: macroenvironmental risks, climatic and geological risks, national political and internal armed conflict risks, intrinsic risks of the regions and operational processes, and risks associated with risk management itself. The most frequent risks were identified, and correlations between them were established. The results obtained show that by creating a database of the risks to which small family businesses are exposed and classifying them by dimension, it is possible to gain a deeper understanding of these risks, which can facilitate their assessment in risk management, with the aim of proposing agricultural policies that will promote the development of this important sector in Colombia.