The Economic Impact of Telecommunications on Rural Livelihoods and Poverty Reduction: A Study of rural Communities in India (Gujarat), Mozambique and Tanzania

Information and communication technologies are now widely believed to have a significant part to play in promoting social and economic development, including the improvement of individual livelihoods, community prosperity and the achievement of national development goals related to the UN Millennium Development Goals. National ICT strategies and the programmes of international donors are incorporating ICT components on this basis, with specific objectives in reaching poor rural and peri-urban as well as urban communities. There is, however. little scientific evidence - in particular, evidence from detailed field research in specific poor communities - about the ways in which individuals and communities exploit access to ICTs, particularly telephony but also radio and (where available) internet, and the impact they have on livelihoods in rural and peri-urban communities. This is particularly true where - as in the vast majority of relevant communities - ICT access development has not been accompanied by specific development initiatives. The lack of hard evidence on the relationship between ICT access and rural livelihoods inhibits effective decision-making on both ICT and livelihoods initiatives and programmes by development planners and the ICT sector, and means that scarce development resources may be ineffectively deployed or opportunities for effective pro-poor initiatives are being missed. The project contributes towards addressing this research problem by providing evidence on the actual relationship between telecommunications/ICT access and rural livelihoods in selected areas of three research countries – India (State of Gujarat), Mozambique and Tanzania. The main report of the project assesses the evidence researched and its value for policymaking a) in each research country and b) more generally, and makes policy recommendations. Note: The details of the working paper are available at http://www.iima.ac.in/ctps/rural.htm