ICTs for Poverty Alleviation: Basic Tool and Enabling Sector
Alan Greenberg (2005)
This report reviews the evidence on how (or if) ICTs should be used in support of poverty reduction exercises.
There is one characteristic that is common to most of the ICT-related poverty alleviation programs.
It finds that the most effective ICTs used are typically basic ones – telephone and radio are most common, and when computers or the Internet are involved, they are for restricted, targeted uses.
It finds several common characteristics of successful projects:
The focus is on poverty alleviation and not on ICT use
ICT components are kept as simple as practical
ICT practitioners are involved in the design of the ICT components
There is significant community involvement
There is a focus on training to ensure success and sustainability
There is consideration of a plan for success – how to replicate and scale project if it is successful
A number of lessons are identified:
Communications and community access: radio and low-cost mobile telephone technology are key. In many rural areas, over 80% of households make regular use of the telephone, whereas five years ago, the figure was less than 5%. Both radio and telephone can operate regardless of the language spoken and do not require literacy, which helps explain the exceedingly high utility and utilization of both. Internet-based communications can be at least as effective, but the resource thresholds are far higher, typically requiring higher-quality communications, electricity, technology infrastructure, and literacy in a computer-supported language. Currently and in the foreseeable future, the number of developing-country people using Internet-based communications will be a shadow of those using telephone or radio, but there are selected areas where it will be important to utilize this newer technology.
Education: there are two prime keys to success. The first is to ensure that pre-requisite resources are deployed – installing computers in schools makes no sense without teachers who know how to teach with them and without technical support to keep them working. The second is to deploy them widely enough to substantially benefit the country. This is an expensive and long-term commitment.
Livelihoods: ICTs have been shown to be effective at both enhancing traditional livelihoods and at allowing the creation of new ones. Simple examples of enhancements include providing farmers with weather forecasts or crop information. New livelihoods enabled by ICTs include web-based businesses and telephone access resellers. The income improvements can range from a few percent to very substantial, depending on the specific details.
Healthcare: there has been significant focus on using ICTs to actually deliver healthcare (telemedicine) and as a way of educating people on health issues. Both are valid and important mechanisms to improve healthcare. However, there are other uses of technology which have the potential for revolutionary improvements in the delivery of healthcare. In most cases, the technology is being used in its simplest forms, to aid in the collection, storing and retrieval of data and information. Despite this low-tech approach to using ICT, pilot projects have shown improvements such as a 50% reduction in mortality or 25–50% improvement in productivity.
Government: most activity has been in the area of “computerizing” government operations and processes: aiming to streamline the operation of government, and even make it more transparent and open. However, it is unclear that there is a direct and relatively short-term impact on poverty. There is a significant role for ICTs in the collection, processing and retrieval of demographic data along with other related information (water, roads, electricity, telephone coverage, etc.). Once data is available, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can be used to manipulate and graphically display the data. Data collection and display systems can allow governments to understand poverty issues and ultimately address them.
In parallel with the basic level of ICTs used in most poverty alleviation programs, developing countries must also develop robust ICT sectors to enable (among other things) the support of ICT components in their poverty alleviation programs. This dual-path approach to the use of ICTs is critical. This may appear as contradictory: recommending the basic use of ICTs for poverty alleviation programs, while at the same time advocating an ICT industry capable of utilizing the most modern and sophisticated of ICTs. But in fact they are compatible and complementary. Although basic ICTs may be recommended for most poverty alleviation programs, there will be cases where the most sophisticated technology is appropriate. A robust and agile ICT sector is an enabler allowing the selected use of ICTs in poverty alleviation. Moreover, the ICT sector must address many other needs at all levels, and it is this enabler which allows the country to participate in the global ICT-based economy.
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