ICT in poverty reduction

30.08.2005 Launched in January 2005, BIOTIK is an initiative in biodiversity informatics looks at developing two knowledge bases of the tree species of Western Ghats, India and Northern Annamites of Lao PDR.

30.08.2005 Launched in January 2004, OSCAR looks at developing an open source weed identification software for the major weed species of Rice-Wheat crop systems which can be deployed on Simputers. The application will address extension workers, farmers/farmer groups, students in the Indo-Gangetic plains.

25.08.2005 This essay is meant to contribute to understanding how people in developing countries use technology, what they want from it, how they can and do form communities based on absorbing and mastering new technologies imported from rich countries, and how they might design their own technologies in ways that are potentially more suitable to the conditions in poor countries and thus more likely to raise living standards in these countries. In a world where two billion people live on two dollars a day, raising living standards remains an urgent task.

25.08.2005 The Agriculture department has opened information centres in various parts of Tiruchi district for providing technical inputs and assistance to farmers.

23.08.2005 READ - Rural Education And Development, Nepal - has been building community libraries. These libraries are run with the active participation of the community and have their own income generating scheme for meeting operating costs and financial sustainability.

17.08.2005 Millions living in marginal, difficult areas of Africa’s Sahel depend upon millet and sorghum as their staple diet and as feed and fodder for their livestock.

17.08.2005 A collaborative effort between IPGRI, CIAT, and CIRAD bore fruit as the New World Fruits Database, which collects and compiles information on the edible fruits and nuts of the Americas.

16.08.2005 International health organizations and officials are bracing for a pandemic.

16.08.2005 The present issue of the Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology attempts to explore “social informatics” in principle and practice.

16.08.2005 Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman Pradip Baijal has made a strong case for providing incentives, including cheaper spectrum, to operators for entering rural areas to sustain growth in the booming sector.

12.08.2005 Chief Minister of Kerala, Oommen Chandy has announced the formation of Mission for Kerala Development and Poverty Alleviation and five task forces to implement the 10 proposals made by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in his address to the Assembly and three proposals added to that by the Chief Minister.

11.08.2005

08.08.2005 In an interview with Rahul Kumar of OneWorld South Asia, Prabhu Pingali stresses on the need to encourage modern agricultural methods so that food production can be increased even as the environment is preserved.

08.08.2005 “So much information can reach villages through broadband, which cannot reach there through any other media. And the villages, which have no roads and other forms of communication, have a huge hunger for information...”, says Pradip Baijal in an interview to Manish Kumar of OneWorld South Asia.

08.08.2005 Agriculture’s centrality to dealing with India’s problems of food security and hunger is well recognised. The dissemination of these advisory services through ICTs will go a long way in making Indian agriculture sustainable....

08.08.2005 The success of ICT initiatives like info-kiosks offers an opportunity to improve our food security network. It is important to integrate fair price shops with the kiosks to ensure food security and transparency in food administration.

08.08.2005 Increase in primary agricultural productivity through use of known science and technology in the poorest rural parts of the country can, in my opinion, make a substantial difference to the quality of life of people living near the poverty line.

08.08.2005 Andhra Pradesh is in the midst of an agrarian emergency. The tragic farmers’ suicides are, finally, an extreme symptom of a much deeper rural distress. The result of a decade-long onslaught on the livelihoods of millions. The crisis now goes way beyond the families ravaged by the suicides. And beyond the farming community itself. There is an urgent need to end the suicides. But doing so without addressing the larger distress is to try and mop the floor dry with the taps open.

08.08.2005 How can recent advances in science and technology be harnessed so that the poor of the world can overcome the problems of drought and desertification? ICRISAT is harnessing the ICTs to enhance food security.

08.08.2005