Priyadarshini Ganesan is Research Manager – Climate & Agri Finance at Dvara Research, where she studies the role of financial systems in advancing inclusive and sustainable development, with a particular focus on agriculture and climate action. Her research explores how financial access can be translated into meaningful improvements in the lives of low-income and climate-vulnerable populations. She brings over a decade of multidisciplinary experience across corporate, public sector, and research settings. Her work is informed by deep engagement with a range of stakeholders, including smallholder farmers, micro and small enterprises, low-income households, and formal financial institutions. Her current research focuses on the design and delivery of context-appropriate financial instruments that can enhance the financial well-being of underserved communities while serving as catalysts for equitable climate transitions.
India’s financial inclusion story over the last decade has been remarkable, with dramatic expansion in account ownership and sustained growth in credit. Yet, evidence increasingly points towards a gap between access and impact as witnessed in high rates of dormant accounts and the ongoing NPA crisis in the microfinance industry.
