Can Technology be a Key to Curb Poverty in Bangladesh?

special feature

Can Technology be a Key to Curb Poverty in Bangladesh?

Faizul Khan Tanim writes on digital solutions of Grameen-Intel Social Business for an agricultural feat contributing to the poverty reduction intend

ICTs are usually referred to computers and the Internet, with a view limited to restricting them only under gadgets and maybe how a home theater system operates.  But technology includes beyond traditional ideas of radio, TV, telephones, online news services. Services which carry information and disseminates them almost precisely.

Recently, technology is one of the key factors, evolving to be a crucial tool to help agricultural feat and address poverty reduction in this country.

And this is particularly why renowned information communication technology (ICT) specialist Dr Roger W Harris said, “The most effective route to achieving substantial benefit with ICTs in development programmes is to concentrate on re-thinking development activities by analysing current problems and associated contextual conditions, and considering ICT as just one ingredient of the solution”. And many people believe technology can be a solution for ‘agricultural development’ and ‘poverty reduction’ efforts.

Believing in technology, during a visit to Bangladesh in 2007, the then-Intel Corporation chairman and ceo Craig Barrett met with Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus. They decided on creating a social business whose sole focus is using technology in creative ways to help the world’s impoverished population to find an avenue to a better life and livelihood.

And hence, Grameen Intel Social Business Ltd (GISBL) formed as a joint collaboration between Intel Corporation and Grameen Trust. They create software applications that address specific social problems in local communities such as low agriculture output or lack of pre-natal care. Their solutions are developed within the company and are coupled with a compact lightweight computing device to constitute a complete solution package.

For example, one of GISBL’s major achievements is a name which standout for itself – Mrittika (meaning soil in Bangla). This is a soil nutrient analysis and fertilizer recommendation software. It operates simply – as rural entrepreneurs tests soil, the next step is to input the test results in to Mrittika and this software will provide the names and quantities of various fertilizers that need to be applied to the soil for cost-effective and optimum crop productivity.

Let’s follow a case study for better imagery.

Farmer: Md. Alam
Crop: Wheat
Season: Rabi

On March 25, 2012, the GISB team travelled to Kushtia, to be a spectator of the harvesting of wheat crops, of the land of Md. Alam in Kushtia. Alam, who was using Mrittika’s recommendation for selecting fertilizer type and amount, had the best crops, with an average height of 47 inch, compared to 27 – 31 inches in the region, while also attaining, a kernel height and width of 5 inches and 1.5 inches respectively compared to 2.5 inches height and 0.5 inches width of kernel for wheat crops for other farmer’s in Kushtia.

A small video footage interview of Md. Alam shows that initially he did not trust the solution provided by Mrittika. But now he believes that the fertilizer recommendations provided can enhance the size, quality of crops and allow the farmer to earn more from higher yield of crops. He pointed out that initially the crop turns black, which is a normal phenomenon, suggesting adequacy of Phosphorous content in the crops. On the other hand, the crops are strong and sturdy and have ripened gradually, indicating Nitrogen and Potassium adequacy. Alam suggested that the crops can be better next season if there was some solution for soil tests and for seed selection.

GISBL has other projects like Ankur (meaning sprouting seed), a seed selection and recommendation application. Rural entrepreneurs use it to help farmers with better seed selection to achieve increased productivity. This application analyses the season and farmer’s land condition and prescribes the best seed.

Another interesting software is Shumata (meaning good mother), an ante-natal care monitoring and tracking software for pregnant women. Mobile health workers, doctors at rural clinics and health administrators can use this software to identify high risk pregnancies early on for appropriate follow up and to ensure that pregnant mothers are getting regular ante-natal care.

Mobile healthcare workers equipped with smart phones visit the homes of pregnant women and using simple software tools, screen them for a variety of potential high risk factors, such as young age, length of time since their last medical check-up, number of past pregnancies, C-sections and stillbirths, etc. The information collected is sent over the Internet to clinics for analysis, and doctors can provide immediate feedback. Pregnant women who are identified as high risk are referred for follow-up diagnosis or treatment, including ongoing prenatal care at a village clinic or referrals to specialized healthcare providers at larger medical facilities.

Their project Dolna (meaning swing ride) is also commendable. It is a vaccine scheduling and tracking software for newborns and infants. Mobile health workers, doctors at rural clinics and health administrators can use this software to ensure that newborns and infants are given all their required immunizations and vaccinations on time.

Speaking to the chief operating officer (COO) of GISBL, Pavel Hoq about the sustainability of their projects, “To keep our products and solutions affordable by our target users, we are constantly working toward devising ways to keep our cost low. A license for Mrittika costs 10 US dollars and we have successfully exported this software to India as well. We will soon make our products available for open source operating systems. We are also working on designing affordable tablets with basic but sufficient configuration and rugged design that our products can run on.”

“Our focus is not only to set up a world-class software firm, we are hoping to shape a work culture where creative thoughts are encouraged and where young and talented workforce drives the company to its success”, Hoq added.

*This article is first published in The Independent's Weekend Magazine Friday September 21 2012 -  http://www.theindependentdigital.com/index.php?opt=view&page=38&date=2012-09-21