Technology for Poverty Alleviation

Modern age has brought out solution to a lot of human problems but it is not completely successful in ironing out the solution to the global poverty. Science and technology are constantly striving to put forward the latest gadgets to tackle this most perplexed problem. Even social and economic values have changed due to the use of technology. All the modern inventions of science and technology have not succeeded in rooting out poverty from the world.

People were too optimistic that technology would shortly give the answer to all human tribulations, mainly those related with poverty. Man was hopeful that travel to space and the nuclear energy would resolve all the problems. These hopes went astray when he came to know that advancement in technology has deprived him of the clean water, fresh air and healthy atmosphere. Only pollution was so great a concern that other harms to the nature went underneath its harmful influences. Man wasted and over consumed the natural resources in the name of fast economic growth and social development.

The result was poverty, rampant all over the world. Not to speak of the developing countries even the rich nations are short of commodities of life, in spite of the technical advancement.

The worst prey was the developing nations and they started making efforts to alleviate it. Firstly it was thought that the technology that had helped the advanced nations to make progress was part and parcel of the development. It was an irony because it was hardly suitable to the circumstances of people in developing nations. Technology without necessary infrastructure and skills is nothing other than wastage of resources. It does not help to overcome poverty but on the other hand increases it.

Technology is helpful only when it does not harm the local culture, society and skills. Such a technology is called as appropriate technology. Provision of technology according to the needs of the area and the resources of the area is definitely helpful in eradicating poverty. High technology is not much useful even in the advanced world with comparison to the appropriate technology because it intensifies unemployment and spoils the surroundings. So we can say that not technology but appropriate technology is the solution to the problem of poverty.

Circumstance-Specific Technology: The Key to Poverty Alleviation

The progress in the field of technology has enabled humans to apply the inventions according to their local needs. The acclimatization of technology is the only way to solve the manifold problems of the poor nations. Expertise intended to be appropriate to the requirements and means of a specific community is the new way to eradicate poverty. It depends on native ability and means that are appropriate to the local circumstances and do not damage the atmosphere too. This has helped man to overcome the multiple problems including poverty.

It took a lot of time to reach the conclusion that only appropriate technology is the suitable way to overcome the problems of daily life. Use of technology according to the local circumstances is a new phenomenon and is helping a lot in the war against poverty.

How Technology Can Work to Overcome Poverty

Technology is related to all aspects of life. It has reached its zenith in advancement. This advancement can become helpful if we use the technical expertise according to our local circumstances. Small scale technical projects providing energy and power are the basis of the all programs related to poverty eradication.

People and states should take advantage of technical advancements mainly in sectors of energy, communications, and information technology to give power to the poor and in gaining fiscal development in their respective states. Information and communication technologies are element of the financial infrastructure that buttress universal production, business, investment and capital flow. Incorporation of Information and communication technologies into poverty reduction and Pro-poor policies are necessary to alleviate poverty.

Technologies that support Local growth, employment and native free enterprise and that reinforces local economic progress and involvement of community in the development projects is in fact real technology that works. Economist like Schoemacher and M Younas are of the view that only appropriate or informal technology.

Technology can defeat poverty. This Technology with its roots in customary skills and resources is the only way to get self-reliance and get rid of poverty.

At the end we can conclude that use of internet to gain access to the development projects in all fields of life and keeping touch with the world markets is also an important way to decrease poverty.