Silvia Storchi

Silvia Storchi is an independent consultant working with CGAP on their sector-wide Financial Inclusion 2.0 initiative, and advising on financial health and financial education.  

Silvia has extensive experience in the field of rural development and financial inclusion. She has worked for various development organizations on project evaluation related to rural and agriculture finance, small and medium-sized enterprise finance, and social protection programs. Silvia has led research projects in several countries and has worked as an independent researcher for UNICEF Innocenti, Oxford Policy Management, Financial Sector Deepening Kenya, and Bath Social and Development Research. In addition to her research work, Silvia has been consulting for the Food and Agriculture Organisation since 2020 as a Rural Finance Specialist, where she provides technical advice on projects that promote the financial inclusion of small-holder farmers, women, and youth.  

Silvia is based in Rome and holds a PhD in Social and Policy Sciences and a Master's degree in Wellbeing and Human Development from the University of Bath, UK. She also has a Master's degree in Economics from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy. 

By Silvia Storchi

Blog

Beyond Account Access: Converting Financial Inclusion into Resilience

Account ownership in LMICs has nearly doubled since 2011, but financial resilience remains stubbornly low: just 56% of adults can access emergency funds within 30 days. Achieving true progress on financial resilience will mean moving beyond account ownership as the primary metric of success.
Blog

When Does Financial Education Work Best? Evidence-Based Insights

CGAP’s Impact Pathfinder consistently identified financial education as a factor for the uptake and use of financial services, prompting us to ask: Could it be playing a more central role in what works, for whom, and in what circumstances?
Blog

Three Principles to Guide Financial Health Measurement

Global financial health measurement varies, reflecting the need for widely applicable guidelines to make sure financial health measurement provides relevant insights. We outline three principles to help refine approaches and improve insights.
Research

A Research and Learning Agenda for the Impact of Financial Inclusion

The financial inclusion community is renewing its efforts to understand the role financial services play in the lives of poor people and how financial services can improve their well-being. This paper proposes a learning agenda based on extensive consultation with donors, researchers, and practitioners who support financial inclusion.