IRIN: Even simple tech helps reduce poverty
JOHANNESBURG, 13 January 2008 (IRIN) – Asia's "green revolution" is a dramatic example of how even modest technological advances in developing countries have helped boost incomes and reduce the number of people living in poverty, according to the World Bank's Global Economic Prospects 2008 report, subtitled Technology Diffusion in the Developing World.
The principal technologies involved in the green revolution, which doubled cereal production between 1970 and 1995, were pesticides, irrigation and synthetic nitrogen fertiliser – which had long been available in industrial countries – along with the development of high-yielding varieties of maize, wheat and rice.
"Even though the impact of the green revolution on the poor was initially a source of controversy, by the late 1990s it was clear that poor people had reaped substantial benefits from higher incomes, less expensive food, and increased demand for their labour," said the report.
New technological developments on a large range of fronts, from agriculture to electronics and medicine have helped reduce the number of people living in poverty from 29 percent in 1990 to 18 percent in 2004, but the gap between rich and poor countries is still huge, and the capacity of the developing countries remains weak.
"Technological progress increased 40 to 60 percent faster in developing countries than in rich countries between the early 1990s and early 2000s," said Andrew Burns, Lead Economist and main author of the report. "Nevertheless, developing countries have a long way to go, given that the level of technology they use is only one-quarter of that employed in high-income countries." …
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