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Table of Contents
Features
Transforming Rural India
Rajesh Jain
ICTs for poverty reduction
Richard Gerster, Sonja Zimmerman
Administration in the digital age
Sanjay Jain
Computers to schools
Fredrick Noronha
Rendezvous
ICTs for development
Leading the movement
Information empowers women
The WiFI opportunity
Columns
Awards, Insight, What's on, In Fact
 

Lessons for doners

ICTs for poverty reduction

 
Richard Gerster  
 

ICT applications in developing countries are often part of an overall strategy for economic growth, relying on the trickle-down effect to those in poverty.... Moreover, poverty is more than just a lack of income.

“We need more knowledge about the most conducive conditions for making ICTs an effective instrument for the poor to improve their own standard of living. This article, based on a discussion paper comissioned by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), attempts to analyse the problems and potentials of ICTs used by people living in poverty, such as illiterate people, unskilled labourers, self-employed micro entrepreneurs, subsistence farmers, women, people speaking minority languages, populations living in remote areas”, says Walter Fust, Director General, SDC.

Poverty reduction
ICT applications in developing countries are often part of an overall strategy for economic growth, relying on the trickle-down effect to those in poverty. The limitations of this approach are well known. Moreover, poverty is more than just a lack of income. Poverty is the opposite of well-being in a comprehensive sense.

In its World Development Report 2000/2001 “Attacking Poverty”, the World Bank describes the road from poverty to well-being being built on empowerment, opportunity and security. Effective poverty reduction requires a more targeted approach. Beyond a lack of income, the multidimensional concept of poverty also refers to: disadvantages in access to land, credit, and services (e.g., health and education); vulnerability (towards violence, external economic shocks, natural disasters); powerlessness; and social exclusion.

Four alternative strategies for poverty reduction, and their capacity to make use of ICTs, can be distinguished:
  • a production-oriented growth strategy, including pro-poor corrective measures;
  • the sustainable livelihoods approach, putting people first;
  • a distribution-oriented strategy, emphasising the redistribution of assets;
  • a rights and empowerment strategy, promoting knowledge about basic rights and empowerment of people.
The role of ICTs in poverty reduction is not limited to reducing income poverty, but also includes non-economic dimensions— in particular, empowerment.

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