On Monday 14 October the winners of the Nobel price in Economics were announced. Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, and Michael Kremer received the prize for their research on fighting poverty. Their efforts have transformed development economics. Their approach introduces a new way to get answers to fighting poverty on a global scale. What it boils down to is that the issue has to be divided into smaller, more manageable segments, such as child health and improvements in educations. The researchers showed that by asking more precise questions, better and more specific experiments among those affected can be designed (The Nobel Prize, 2019).
This research got me thinking: “what technologies are currently out there fighting poverty?”. Around the world, there are still billions of people living in poverty, and ending poverty is one of the sustainable development goals set by the United Nations. Luckily, there are emerging technologies that can help achieve this goal (Kranz, 2019).
A large majority of people living in poverty live in rural areas and rely on farming to make a living. New IoT technologies can help farmers optimize operations with the data they generate. A startup in Nigeria called Zenvus is doing just this. They are equipping farmers around sub-Sharan Africa with small sensors in the soil that collect data on for example temperature, humidity, and nutrient levels. Based on this information a mobile app shows farmers advice on what, when and how to plant and connects them to electronic market places where they can sell their harvests. This helps the decision-making process of the farmers and reduces crop failure, provides market access and decreases production costs (Zenvus, 2019).
Furthermore, many people (especially those living in poverty) do not have access to the internet. With the rise of the 5G network this could soon change. 5G together with low earth-orbiting satellite constellations can provide high-speed internet access to the more remote corners of the globe. With this, education can be brought to people in more rural areas that currently do not have access to it, for example by setting up live streams of online classrooms. Research has shown that education is one of the most effective tools when fighting poverty (Kranz, 2019).
Moreover, in many countries, the lack of land ownership is a big source of poverty. If people are not able to verify a title or deed to a piece of land, they cannot, for example, buy/sell their property, access loans or other financial aids or establish creditworthiness. New initiatives are blockchain-based digital registries of land ownership. These use GPS data and satellite photos together with transaction information to help people guarantee property rights. With these new property rights, the landowners can, for example, open bank accounts and establish credit (Kranz, 2019).
The abovementioned and many other initiatives are rising that are helping in the fight to end poverty. Do you think they will work or is it not enough to get us there?
Bibliography
Kranz, M. (2019). Retrieved from Real Leaders: https://real-leaders.com/3-ways-to-combat-poverty-with-transformational-technology/
The Nobel Prize. (2019). The Prize in Economic Sciences 2019. Retrieved from The Nobel Prize: nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2019/press-release
Zenvus. (2019). Retrieved from Zenvus: https://www.zenvus.com/insights/
Hi Eline, thank you for your interesting contribution! I was reading the blogpost on KaiOS the other day. This is a smartphone developed mainly for developing/poor countries as it is really cheap. As you mentioned an application that can help farmers, I immediately thought of this phone. Personally I was a little bit skeptical on whether these phones would be used or not, but now that I read about this application I think it can be very helpful. Unfortunately the system is still lacking third-party integration, but I’m sure that could be improved in the future. What do you think, is there a future in the use of KaiOS?
Hi Eline,
Thank you for your interesting post! Super cool initiatives that will for sure make a difference in reducing poverty.
Recently I read an article on how small things can make a huge impact. Simon Groot for example, winner of the Nobel Prize for Food 2019, is the inventor East-West Seed. He optimized tropical seeds so that they can grow in many circumstances, helping less fertile areas to grow their own crops. He is now exporting his product to Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Seeing that technology, in for example Zenvus, is now used to optimize and educate farmers in third world countries is a great development and huge step towards ending poverty. I do, however, think that this will not be enough. Technology should, in my opinion, foremost be used in third world countries to bridge the knowledge gap and overcome environmental disadvantages to get a higher standard of living all around the world. Because change starts with enhancing knowledge and consciousness.
https://european-seed.com/2019/10/world-food-prize-awarded-to-simon-groot-october-17/