Emilio Hernandez

Senior Financial Sector Specialist

Emilio Hernandez explores digital financial solutions for last-mile customers. He leads work on innovations that make digital financial systems more impactful in achieving top development goals, especially food security; implementation of foundational building blocks for inclusive finance, like Digital Public Infrastructure and inclusive agent networks; and on new methods to measure the impact financial inclusion has on poor people’s lives to inform more effective policies.

Before joining CGAP, Emilio led technical cooperation programs focused on inclusive rural and agricultural finance at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations overseeing field interventions in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. He also oversaw business operations for a large international agricultural technology company throughout Central and South America. 

He has a Doctorate degree in Agricultural Economics and Development Finance from The Ohio State University.

By Emilio Hernandez

Blog

Client Registration: The Blind Spot in Agricultural Insurance

This agricultural insurance provider tripled its product registration rates in rural Nigeria by improving its registration process.
Blog

4 Regulatory Enablers for Digital Finance: A Gender Perspective

Access to digital financial services is uneven for men and women. If implemented with gender in mind, the basic regulatory enablers of digital finance can increase women's financial inclusion.
Blog

Building Rural Digital Ecosystems, One Small Payment at a Time

New research shows that digitizing everyday payments as person-to-person transfers can be a sustainable way for providers to reach customers in rural areas.
Research

Using Satellite Data to Scale Smallholder Agricultural Insurance

Smallholder families that use agricultural insurance can increase investments in more productive farming and nonfarming ventures as they feel more confident in managing related risks. However, significantly scaling the use of agricultural insurance among smallholders has been difficult in many parts of the world, especially in Africa.
Research

Female Smallholders in the Financial Inclusion Agenda

This Brief explores the gender gap in financial inclusion among smallholder families in Tanzania and Mozambique through unique survey data that allow for a nationally representative look at smallholders.