Co-operative members’ perceptions on health insurance and the Ushirika afya scheme in Babati district, Tanzania

Abstract

Ushirika Afya scheme plays a crucial role in improving and protecting Co-operative members in health issues in the agriculture sector. This study was carried out to examine the co-operative members’ perceptions towards the Ushirika Afya scheme and examine the key determinants of members' engagement in the Ushirika Afya scheme. The study was guided by the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) as the leading theory and social capital theory. The study adopted a crosssectional research design. The target population and the unit of analysis included all Agricultural and Marketing Co-operative (AMCOS) members who are in the Ushirika Afya scheme in the study area, and the sample size of 300 respondents was involved. The study findings indicated that socio-demographic factors, including age, marital status, household income and size, level of education, and economic activity, significantly influence cooperative members in the Ushirika Afya scheme. Thematic analysis revealed that cooperative members’ perception towards Ushirika afya was for health concern, health protection, old and aged cooperative members, it was for sick people, it is government government-established programme for cooperative members in AMCOS. Moreover, the study concludes that there is limited engagement with the Ushirika Afya Scheme among youth, whereas the perception in many people’s minds is that the Ushirika Afya Scheme is for elderly people, sick people, and poor people. This is because the study has shown that there is a high rate of elders enrolled in the scheme compared to the youth. There is a need for increased investment in awareness campaigns and capacity-building programmes to enhance the publicity of the Ushirika Afya scheme, which will lead to an increased number of members.