Jenny Aker

Jenny C. Aker is a Professor of Development Economics at the Fletcher School and Department of Economics at Tufts University. She also serves as the Director of the Fletcher Leadership Program in Financial Inclusion (FLPFI), the Deputy Director of the Hitachi Center for Technology and International Affairs and the co-Director of the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy (CIERP), as well as a Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for Global Development. After working for Catholic Relief Services as Deputy Regional Director in West and Central Africa between 1998 and 2003, Jenny completed her PhD in agricultural economics at the University of California, Berkeley. Jenny works on economic development in Africa, with a primary focus on the impact of information (and information technology) on development outcomes, particularly in the areas of agriculture, agricultural markets, adult education and financial inclusion; the determinants and impacts of agricultural technology adoption; and the impact of different mechanisms and modalities of social protection (cash and in-kind transfers). Jenny has conducted field work in Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, DRC, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Tanzania, as well as Haiti and Guatemala.