Technology Enabled Entrepreneurship under Poverty Alleviation Programme

Technology plays a big role in the development of a society. India’s own economic growth has largely been possible because of the advancement in telecommunication technology made in the early 1990s.

The poor too, it has been demonstrated, can benefit greatly from technology. Simple technology such as the cell phone has enabled women in Bangladesh to increase household income, or has provided an easy way for a construction contractor to pay salaries to his migrant employees in northern India.

Several social enterprises today are making use of technology to impact lives. Villgro itself has worked with several such enterprises in the past.

Technology also has a significant role to play in the agriculture sector. Very often farmers are not able to maximize their profits because they are unaware of the optimum price for their produce, and sell it to middle men at much lower rates. Access to information, is therefore vital. And technology plays a role in filling this gap.

Sanjay Mohapatra, in his article ‘Technology Enabled Entrepreneurship under Poverty Alleviation Programme’, takes a closer look at one technology-based solution developed for farmers. Not only does the article show how technology can help maximize profits, but it also demonstrates that the investment in technology actually results in surplus which helps in improving the living conditions and helps in poverty alleviation.

Read the entire article here.