ICT and Poverty Alleviation

8/18/2019 ICT and Poverty Alleviation

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Information andCommunications Technology

(ICT)as a Means of Alleviating

Poverty and Enhancing Health


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What is ICT?

ICTs are usually understood to refer tocom!uters and the Internet" ho#everthis vie# is limited"The more traditional and usually morecommon technologies of radio" T$"tele!hones" !u%lic address systems"and even ne#s!a!ers" also carryinformation&


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What is !overty?The figure of ' * income !er day is#idely acce!ted as a general indicator ofe+treme !overty&There is no a%solute cut,off and income isonly one indicator of the results of !overty"among many others&

According to the World -an." !overtyincludes !o#erlessness" voicelessness"vulnera%ility" and fear&


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The sco!e of PovertyThe World -an. re!orts that of the #orld/s si+%illion !eo!le" 0&1 %illion" almost half" live on lessthan ' 0 a day&

*&0 %illion" a fifth" live on less than ' * a day"#ith 22 !ercent of them living in outh Asia&Millennium 3evelo!ment 4oals set for 05*6 %yinternational develo!ment agencies includereducing %y half the !ro!ortion of !eo!le living ine+treme income !overty" or those living on lessthan ' * a day


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4lo%al distri%ution of !overty


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The !overty,health connection Although !oor health can lead to reduced !roductivityand !overty" more often the main direction of influenceis from !overty to !oor(er) health&7ong,duration !overty has larger (negative) healthconse8uences than occasional e!isodes of !overty&-oth income level and income changes are significant!redictors of health status" %ut income level is the moreim!ortant of the t#o&


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The ICT,Poverty connectiona .no#ledge ga! is an im!ortantdeterminant of !ersistent !overty&develo!ed countries already !ossess the.no#ledge re8uired to assure a universallyade8uate standard of living&ICT can encourage greater interaction and

communication #ithin and %et#eencountries in order to reduce the 9digitaldivide:&


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Consider ;ofi Anan/s 8uote on the digitaldivide as an indicator of !overty&

9The new information and communications technologies areamong the driving forces of globalisation. They arebringing people together, and bringing decision makersunprecedented new tools for development. At the sametime, however, the gap between information ‘haves’ and‘have-nots’ is widening, and there is a real danger that

the world’s poor will be excluded from the emergingknowledge-based global economy !Anan, "##"$.


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tatistics on the digital divide

All of the develo!ing countries of the #orldo#n a mere four !ercent of the #orld/scom!uters&


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Eliminating the digital divide re8uires morethan the !rovision of access to technologies&

According to the International 7a%ourDrgani ation (I7D)" although ICTs cancontri%ute significantly to socio,economicdevelo!ment" investments in them alone arenot sufficient for develo!ment to occur (I7D"055*)&Put sim!ly" ICT is a necessary %ut insufficientcondition for economic develo!ment( chmandt et& al" *FF5)&


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!ecific ICT A!!licationsRadio

Gadio has achieved im!ressive results in thedelivery of useful information to !oor !eo!le& Its

!rinci!al attri%ute is its u%i8uity& A survey of 0*"555 farmers enrolled in radio,%ac.ed farm forums in am%ia found that F5!ercent found !rogrammes relevant and morethan 65 !ercent credited the !rogrammes andforums #ith increasing their cro! yields (3odds"*FFF)&


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In outh Africa" cloc.#or. radios that do

not re8uire %attery or electricity are %eingdistri%uted to villages to ena%le them tolisten to develo!ment !rogramming&

The radio has %een used e+tensively todisseminate health information" #eatherforcast and so on&


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Television

=ot as common as the radio %ut has %eenuseful in some settings&Pro%a%ly the most nota%le e+am!le of T$

for develo!ment comes from China #ith itsT$ 'niversity and agricultural T$ station&In $i t =am" t#o universities in the Me.ong

3elta Gegion #or. #ith the local T$ stationto %roadcast #ee.ly farmers #or.sho!sthat are #atched %y millions&


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TelephoneWith the introduction of the 4 M" there has %eena massive e+!ansion of tele!hone services in therural areas #here the !oor live&

A good e+am!le is the 4rameen hand !hones in

-angladesh" in #hich the 4rameen -an." thevillage,%ased micro,finance organi ation" leasescellular mo%ile !hones to successful mem%ers&This has delivered significant %enefits to the !oor&The !hones are mostly used for e+changing !riceand %usiness and health related information&


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In =igeria" it is 8uite o%vious the

economic %enefits of the 4 M& Thin. ofho# much em!loyment and income it hasgenerated&In the rural areas" the !hones offeradditional non,economic %enefits such asim!roved la# enforcement" reducedine8uality" more ra!id and effectivecommunication during emergencies andstronger .inshi! %onding&


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In China" villages that had the tele!hone"the most %asic communicationstechnology" e+!erienced declines in the!urchase !rice of various commoditiesand lo#er future !rice varia%ility&

$illage tele!hones facilitated Jo%searches" im!roved access to emergencymedical care and the a%ility to deal #ithnatural disasters lo#ered mortality ratesfor livestoc. due to more timely advicefrom e+tension #or.ers and im!rovedrates in foreign,e+change transactions(Eggleston et al&" 0550)&


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Public address systems

Commonly used in China and $i t =am#here to deliver !u%lic information"announcements and the daily ne#s&PA systems are more locali ed than radio"%ut are technically sim!ler and lesse+!ensive&Gesearch on !oor communities indicatethat the tele!hone and radio remain themost im!ortant (direct access) ICT tools forchanging the lives of the !oor (Hee.s"*FFF)&


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Computers and the Internet

Com!uters and the Internet arecommonly made availa%le to !oorcommunities in the form of community,

%ased telecentres&These centers !rovide shared access tocom!uters and the Internet and are the

only realistic means of doing this for !oorcommunities& A fe# case studies #ill %ecited later&


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The t#o .ey elements of telecenters are !u%licaccess and a develo!ment orientation&It is the latter characteristic that distinguishestelecentres from cy%er cafKs&Telecentres can !rovide a range of ICT,%asedservices from #hich they can earn an income"such as tele!hone use" !hotoco!ying and!rinting" email and #ord !rocessing&This hel!s #ith financial self,sustaina%ility" #hichtelecentres are often re8uired to attain&

ome argue that ICT,%ased develo!mentservices should not have to %e !aid for %y !oor!eo!le" and should %e !rovided as a !u%licservice" rather li.e li%raries&


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Poverty Alleviation using ICT

9The most effective route to achievingsu%stantial %enefit #ith ICTs indevelo!ment !rogrammes is toconcentrate on re,thin.ing develo!mentactivities %y analysing current !ro%lems

and associated conte+tual conditions"and considering ICT as Just oneingredient of the solution:, %oger &arris


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uccessful use of ICT for !overty

alleviation1. Distributing locally relevant information &, Where information is !rovided in the local

language and #ith locally relevant content"the community can %enefit significantly&,The $illage Information ho!s in Pondicherry" India"

!rovides information using the Tamil language andTamil scri!t in the com!uters ( entil.umaran and

Arunachalam" 0550)&


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The a%ove and other similar !roJects in India!rovide information on

, Commodity mar.eting information system, 7andholder/s !ass%oo. of land rights and

loans, Gural Hindi e,mail

, @orms of various government schemes&, -elo#,Poverty,7ine @amily 7ist, Em!loyment ne#s, Gural matrimonial, Gural mar.et, Gural ne#s!a!er , E,education


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2. Targeting disadvantaged and marginalizedgroups

, ICT has %een used to %enefit disadvantagedgrou!s such as #omen" disa%led" non,Englishs!ea.ers and so on&

, uch grou!s usually re8uire s!ecial assistance andattention in if they are to %enefit from !rogrammesthat are targeted at !oor !eo!le&

, trategies for reaching marginali ed sectors ofsociety through ICTs include the collection"classification" !rotection" and commerciali ation ofindigenous .no#ledge %y minority grou!s usingICTs& Traditional remedies are %eing recorded indata%ases and afforded !rotection from foreigna!!lications for !atents&


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.Promoting local entrepreneurship, ICTs have the !otential to im!act the livelihood

strategies of small,scale enter!rises and localentre!reneurs in the follo#ing areasL=atural ca!ital , o!!ortunities for accessing nationalgovernment !olicies@inancial ca!ital , communication #ith lendingorgani ations" e&g&" for micro,creditHuman ca!ital , increased .no#ledge of ne# s.illsthrough distance learning and !rocesses re8uired forcertification

ocial ca!ital , cultivating contacts %eyond theimmediate communityPhysical ca!ital , lo%%ying for the !rovision of %asicinfrastructure


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2&Improving poor people!s healthHealth care is one of the most !romising areas for

!overty alleviation through the use of ICTs& Thiscan %e achieved in the follo#ing areas&a& to facilitate remote consultation" diagnosis" and

treatment&%& To ena%le health #or.ers in develo!ing

countries are accessing relevant medicaltraining through ICT,ena%led deliverymechanisms&

c& Gadio" T$ (and more recently the Internet)have a history of effectively facilitating thedissemination of !u%lic health cam!aigns anddisease !revention strategies in develo!ingcountries&


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A good e+am!le is in 4innac." a remoteisland village on the 4am%ia Giver" #herenurses use a digital camera to ta.e!ictures of sym!toms for e+amination %ya doctor in a near%y to#n& The !hysiciancan send the !ictures over the Internet toa medical institute in the '; for furtherevaluation& ,ray images can also %e

com!ressed and sent through e+istingtelecommunications net#or.s&


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6&"trengthening education

, In develo!ing countries" distanceeducation !rogrammes hel! to educatemore !eo!le for less money&

, '=E CD and the World -an. havere!orted that in the #orld/s *5 %iggestdistance education institutions" themaJority of #hich are in the Third World"

the cost of education !er student is onaverage a%out one third the cost attraditional institutions in the same country&


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, China Central Gadio and Television 'niversityhas *&6 million students" t#o,thirds of them indegree !rogrammes&

, The university caters to #or.ing adults& It%roadcasts radio and T$ lectures at fi+ed timesto students at 0" 55 %ranch cam!uses and0F"555 study centres" as #ell as at #or.!laces&

, In Me+ico" over


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#. Promoting trade and e$commerce, e,commerce is s!reading most 8uic.ly among

develo!ing countries&, M,commerce" defined as the %uying and selling

of goods and services using #ireless handhelddevices such as mo%ile tele!hones or !ersonaldata assistants (P3As)"is li.e#ise gro#ing at ara!id !ace&

, The main areas of m,commerce use are in te+t

messaging or M (short messaging service)"micro,!ayments" financial services" logistics"information services and #ireless customerrelationshi! management&


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%&"upporting good governance,

E,governance is an area of ICT use thatsho#s ra!idly increasing !romise foralleviating the !o#erlessness"voicelessness" vulnera%ility and feardimensions of !overty&

, ICTs have %een used to s!readdemocracy and include the !oor in the!rocess of governance&


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, In ;erala" the state government is

s!onsoring the e-shringla !roJect to set u!Internet,ena%led information .ios.sthroughout the tate&

, It net#or.s #ith a variety of governmentde!artments and !roviding Internet access"ena%ling online services and ecommerce

facilities for citi ens&


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&. 'uilding capacity and capability, Ca!acity %uilding refers to develo!ing an

organi ation/s (or individual/s) core s.illsand ca!a%ilities to hel! it (himNher) achieveits (hisNher) develo!ment goals&

, ICTs can hel! to achieve this&, The $illage Information ho!s in

Pondicherry" have used ICTs to %uilda#areness in !oor communities of thegovernment !rogrammes and entitlementsthat are availa%le for their assistance&


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1(. )nriching culture, ICTs can simultaneously %e a threat and an

o!!ortunity to a culture&, ICTs can hel! to !reserve indigenous culture&, Aside from digiti ation of indigenous cultural

artefacts" ICTs !rovide a means for culturalcommunities to strengthen cultural ties&

, @or e+am!le" the Internet is hel!ing to unite Assyrian communities" regardless of theirgeogra!hic" educational" and economic%ac.grounds&


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11. "upporting agriculture

, ICTs can !rovide useful information tofarmers in the area of cro! care and animalhus%andry" fertili er and feedstoc. in!uts"

drought mitigation" !est control" irrigation"#eather forecasting" seed sourcing andmar.et !rices&

, ICTs can also ena%le farmers to !artici!atein advocacy and coo!erative activities&


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, A good illustration is the case of tomato inIndia #ho in the !ast #ere harvesting their

tomatoes at the same time" giving rise to amar.et glut that !ushed !rices to roc. %ottom&

, At other times" #hen tomatoes #eren/t

availa%le and the !rices shot u!" the farmershad none to sell& =o#" they use a net#or. oftelecentres to coordinate their !lanting so thatthere is a steady su!!ly to the mar.ets andmore regulated and regular !rices&


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12. Creating employment opportunities

, unem!loyed !eo!le can use ICTs todiscover Jo% o!!ortunities&

, they can %ecome em!loyed in the ne# Jo%s

that are created through the de!loyment ofICTs&

, Through o!en Jo% see.er %an.s" for

e+am!le" em!loyers can search anddirectly access rKsumKs" #hich in turn arelin.ed electronically to Jo% vacancy %an.s&


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, Dne common o!tion is to !urchase amo%ile !hone through a micro credit!rogram and to earn income %y !rovidinglo# cost !hone calls to others& This is 8uitecommon in =igeria&

, India has seen ra!id gro#th in cy%er .ios.sthat !rovide access to socialcommunication as #ell as %usiness su!!ortservices for under!rivileged grou!s&

, It has hel!ed to reduce youthunem!loyment&


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, Call Centres handle tele!hone calls"fa+" e,mail and other ty!es of customercontact" in live and automated formats&They have e+!anded ra!idly in Euro!eand are im!ortant sources of #or. in

Hong ;ong" Tai#an" outh ;orea"Malaysia and the Phili!!ines&


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7imitations of ICT

ICTs alone are insufficient for significantbenefits to emerge.

ICTs *ill not transform bad developmentinto good development+ but they canma,e good development better.

)ffective applications of ICTs compriseboth a technological infrastructure andan information infrastructure.


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In rural settings in developing countries

-*here the vast ma ority of poor peoplelive/+ it is al*ays a challenge to installthe technological infrastructure+ but the

tas, is relatively simple compared toestablishing the informationinfrastructure.

0hile ICTs provide opportunities fordevelopment+ desirable outcomesal*ays arise from the actions of people.


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In Conclusion

9Alleviating !overty #ith ICTs is not asstraightfor#ard as merely installing thetechnology" %ut it is not conce!tuallycom!le+ either& Provided a fe# relativelysim!le !rinci!les can %e follo#ed" it seemsli.ely that #ides!read !overty alleviation

can %e achieved #ith ICTs: (Harris)&


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ome !rinci!les have emerged from the ICT for

Poverty Alleviation @rame#or. descri%eda%oveLtrategi e for !overty alleviation" not for ICT

Geform telecommunications through!rivati ation" com!etition and inde!endentregulationPromote !u%lic accessL aggregate demand forsustaina%ility (#hich is not only financial)Geform institutions to achieve transformational%enefits3evelo! a!!ro!riate a!!roaches for listeningto the !oor

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ICT and Poverty Alleviation