Title: Philippine precision farming gets a mobile upgrade
Author: Joel D. Adriano
Source: SciDev.Net
Date (published): 21/07/2010
Date (accessed): 03/08/2010
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
Rice farmers in the Philippines will be able to dial a specialised service on their mobile phones to obtain tailored advice on fertiliser use when they plant their crops in September.

Scientists at the Philippine-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), officials of the Philippine Department of Agriculture, and local private telecommunications firm Globe, have joined together to create the service that will enable poor farmers to tap into sophisticated 'precision agriculture' techniques commonly used in developed countries. These include technologies such as remote sensing, not often available to Asian farmers

Title: UID to bring banking to the poor
Author: Karen Leigh
Source: livemint.com
Publisher: HT Media
Date (published): 25/04/2010
Date (accessed): 03/05/2010
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
New Delhi: India’s plan to offer unique identity (UID) cards to all citizens will bring a range of banking services within reach of millions of poor who currently cannot even open a bank account, says a report released on Friday by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which is executing the project.

Facilities such as microfinance are beyond the reach of many poor people in both towns and villages who do not have documentary proof of their identity.

Title: Shower of Aid Brings Flood of Progress
Author: Jeffrey Gettleman
Source: NYTimes.com
Publisher: The New York Times Company
Date (published): 08/03/2010
Date (accessed): 09/03/2010
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
Sauri, Kenya — In the past five years, life in this bushy little patch of western Kenya has improved dramatically... Sauri was the first of what are now more than 80 Millennium Villages across Africa, a showcase project that was the dream child of Jeffrey D. Sachs, the Harvard-trained, Columbia University economist...His intent was to show that tightly focused, technology-based and relatively straightforward programs on a number of fronts simultaneously — health care, education, job training — could rapidly lift people out of poverty.

Title: Dispatch from Planet of the Apps: a brave new world for mobile money?
Author: Jim Rosenberg
Publisher: CGAP: Consultative Group to Assist the Poor
Date (published): 17/02/2010
Date (accessed): 18/02/2010
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
...This week at the Mobile World Congress has felt a bit like a live-action version of “Planet of the Apes,” with a few differences. Instead of apes, we have apps. The species rising to power goes by the ticker symbols of GOOG (Google), YHOO (Yahoo!), APPL (Apple)...It is true that the Planet of the Apps only is a reality for the markets where internet enabled phones are available - and for the people who can afford them. Though Vodafone’s just rolled out a new $15 handset. As we heard from Stephen Rasmussen earlier this week, such handsets are getting cheaper, more quickly, meaning internet phones will penetrate more deeply into the markets where the world’s unbanked need access to appropriate financial services.

Title: Mobile technology, gender and development in Africa, India and Bangladesh
Author: Jukka Jouhki
Source: An Anthropologist Goes Techno blog
Date (published): 07/02/2009
Date (accessed): 07/12/2009
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
One problem shared by the poor in all developing countries is lack of affordable access to relevant information and knowledge services. There is widespread consensus that information and communication technologies (ICTs) present the best solution to this problem, with mobile phones showing particular promise. Mobile phones are more affordable than computers, require less infrastructure, do not require the user to have much technological knowledge or even to be able to read and write, and are easy to carry from place to place. They lend themselves to flexible usage (text, voice and two-way communication), do not require special training, and the costs of connectivity are relatively low...Yet the introduction of new technologies does not itself automatically lead to economic growth and increased well-being. Privatization of teleservices has created the institutional problem of how states, service providers and NGOs can co-operate to provide developmental applications in affordable ways...To maximize the potential benefits of mobile technology solutions, closer attention must be paid to poverty’s dynamics, causes, and consequences. Poverty does not result merely from lack of connectedness to the information society, it is also a result of market restrictions, repressive governments, social injustice, and human exploitation. One of the most serious and far-reaching barriers to the eradication of poverty is gender inequality..."
(via http://twitter.com/JukkaJ )

Title: Connected Agriculture Developing Smart, Connected Rural Communities
Author: Bharat Popat, Contributors: James Macauley, Gustavo Menendez-Bernales
Pages: 12 pp.
Publisher: Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG)
Date (published): 17/07/2009
Date (accessed): 27/11/2009
Type of information: research paper
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
To escape poverty, smallholder farmers need to enhance their skills and knowledge, and the entire smallholder-dominant value chain needs to become more competitive. The combined effect of these two factors can improve agricultural productivity and raise the incomes of rural dwellers.
The Internet can play a pivotal role by providing a cost-effective way to deliver information services to a large, dispersed population. Internet technology can deliver knowledge to farmers and planning tools to agribusinesses, and connects the various players in the value chain so they can conduct commerce more efficiently.
Despite the challenges of providing and adopting information and communications technology (ICT), use of the Internet for rural development is about to reach an inflection point. Nations that lead in the deployment and use of Internet technology for agriculture will gain an economic and social advantage.

(via http://twitter.com/e_agriculture and www.e-agriculture.org/ )

Title: Training on Communication and Information Technologies, Employment and Youth: The Case of Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico
Author Editor: Judith Mariscal, Antonio Jose Junqueira Botelho, Luis Gutierrez
Pages: 12 pp.
ISSN: 1544-7529
Source: Information Technologies & International Development, Volume 5, Number 2, Summer 2009, 19–30
Publisher: USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
Date (published): 10/07/2009
Date (accessed): 13/11/2009
Type of information: peer-reviewed article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML and pdf)
Abstract:
As information and communication technologies (ICTs) become widely used in most economic sectors, there are increasing opportunities for marginalized groups to join new productive processes. These career advancement opportunities are particularly attractive for poor, young individuals; however, this increased adoption may also widen social and economic gaps by providing few access points to already-marginalized groups. This study examines ICT training by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in three countries in Latin America: Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. Specifically, the study analyzes the use and effects of such training as a strategy for integrating marginalized youth groups into the knowledge-based economy. NGOs may play important roles as liaisons for effective adoption of ICTs. Professional training skills required by current market demands are, undoubtedly, a factor that contributes to the ability of marginalized youth to search for and secure employment. Today, these groups are socially and economically excluded. They face numerous obstacles, including a lack of both the quality education and the skills currently required by industries using ICTs and the support networks to obtain either employment or self-employment. ICT training offers unique opportunities for integrating marginalized youth into the new knowledge-based economy.

Title: Tracking the Introduction of the Village Phone Product in Rwanda
Authors: Michael Douglas Futch, Craig Thomas McIntosh
Pages: 28 pp.
ISSN: 1544-7529
Source: Information Technologies & International Development, Volume 5, Number 3, Fall 2009, 54–81
Publisher: USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
Date (published): 09/10/2009
Date (accessed): 07/112009
Type of information: peer-reviewed article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML and pdf)
Abstract:
This paper presents the results from a quantitative impact study of the Grameen/MTN Village Phone in Rwanda, which was conducted between June 2006 and August 2007. We find that the introduction of a Village Phone had a substantial impact on reported access to telecommunications for local entrepreneurs. While the introduction of phones did not follow the intended randomized design, we compare the changes observed in 94 study communities that received the phones to the 284 that did not. We find that the placement of a Village Phone in a community was associated with both an increased use of phones to transmit news and a greater propensity for farmers to arrange their own transit. Despite this improvement in access to telephony, the actual prices received by farmers were not affected. Impacts at the household level were muted by the relatively small size of Village Phone businesses and airtime usage rates, implying that profits must be transferred from other sources to pay off the phone in six months. Reported labor time in household enterprise increased dramatically for Village Phone operators, but positive impacts on consumption or overall business profits were not found.

Title: Broadening the Agenda for ICT for Poverty Reduction
Author: Ophelia Mascarenhas
Source: Publius Project
Publisher: Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University
Date (published): 21/09/2009
Date (accessed): 28/09/2009
Type of information: essay
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
Six years down the line the debate still continues. In the developing countries the explosive increase in the use of ICTs has not been matched with a tremendous decline in poverty or socio-economic inequalities. Have financial resources for the BOP been lured and diverted to mobiles instead of other needs? Could the outflow of capital directly in terms of airtime tariffs and purchases of equipment and indirectly through the construction of massive billboards, TV slots and promotional campaigns been better used to reduce poverty?

Title: A Dialogue on ICTs, Human Development, Growth, and Poverty Reduction
Authors: Randy Spence and Matthew Smith
Source: Publius Project
Publisher: Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University
Date (published): 21/09/2009
Date (accessed): 24/09/2009
Type of information: essay
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
In September 2003, IDRC organized A Dialogue on ICTs and Poverty: The Harvard Forum. The current paper has been drafted as background for a second Harvard Forum - A Dialogue on ICTs, Human Development, Growth and Poverty Reduction, September 2009. Six years later, much has changed. Trends highlighted at the Harvard Forum and elsewhere have progressed and many have accelerated. ICT regulation and policies have improved in many countries, often in response to good research and advocacy. There has been explosive growth in mobile phone access and use in all regions, with both private and non-profit operations servicing the ‘bottom of the pyramid’ (BoP) with very low-margin, high-volume business models.