Thanks for the message about the URL. Our mistake.
DN Administrator
-----Original Message-----
From: Gloria Isabel Toro Cordoba [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2004 1:13 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Technology and Poverty- Join an E-discussion
Dear Sirs,
I would like to join to yor e-mail discussion regarding technology and
poverty
in the context of disasters.
Thanks, Gloria Toro
Pd. In the Duryog Nivaran URL you wrote "com" instead of "org". Then the
link
doesn't work.
------
Gloria Isabel Toro C.
Ph.D Candidate
Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer
TULANE UNIVERSITY
www.payson.tulane.edu
phone: 1(504)865-5240
---------------------
Quoting "DN.NET" <[log in to unmask]>:
>
>
> Invitation to Join in an E-mail Discussion
>
>
>
> Has technology failed the poor and made them more vulnerable?
>
>
>
> In spite of the huge technological advancements that illuminated the
> past 50 years, a large portion of the world's over-six-billion
> population remain poor. Lack of adequate food, nutrition and access to
> clean water have become serious issue in many parts of the developing
> world, as natural resources succumb to man's unrelenting exploitation.
> Reforms like the green revolution swept across the globe leaving its
> imprint in the remotest corners of the globe but in the end, the poor
> remain in poverty.
>
>
>
> Even at the expense of over-generalising, it is still safe to say that
> technology is not geared towards upliftment of those in poverty.
Modern
> technology caters to the more affluent western markets. The Green
> Revolution with its high-yielding crops, advanced machines and agro
> chemicals greatly enriched farmers in affluent societies. But in the
> developing world, the debris of this 'revolution' is scattered for all
> to see. Reduced soil fertility, increased dependence on chemicals,
> polluted fields and rivers and finally, the lack of markets for goods
so
> produced. Erosion, desertification and toxic chemical pollution are
> destroying the environment while these countries suffer from increased
> poverty. Degraded natural environment has become the cause for
increased
> hazards- prolonged drought, flash floods and landslides. Traditional
> livelihoods have been transformed, but not for the better. Farmers in
> these countries suffer from increased vulnerability- to weather
changes,
> to fluctuations in the market and to natural disasters. Technology
> advancements that have greatly benefited the western farmer have
failed
> to touch their lives.
>
>
>
> But farmers in third world countries have little option than to adopt
> the methods and practices so aggressively promoted by their
governments,
> the media and the private sector. Today, when the promises of high
> yields and higher profits have withered away, the questions remain;
who
> will take the blame? Who is accountable for the imposition of unsuited
> technologies on unwitting, debt-ridden nations of the developing
world?
> Who can prevent such technology proliferation in the future?
>
>
>
> If we look at the disaster scenario, things are really not that
> different. The aftermath of the massive earthquake that rocked Gujarat
> in 2001 is testimony to bad technological choices and faulty planning.
> Admittedly the earthquake was a massive one, but the human casualties
> were exaggerated by the building design and town planning practices of
> the day. The construction of many storied buildings and the layout of
> urban areas was not suited for a known earthquake-prone zone. Due to
> these wrong policy and planning decisions, many lives were lost under
> collapsing concrete. The price for bureaucratic bungling, poor
planning,
> faulty construction and non-adoption of suitable technology, was paid
by
> a large number of quake victims who lost their lives, families or
> possessions in the disaster.
>
>
>
> Duryog Nivaran believes that accountability and transparency are key
to
> any development process, and would like to continue the debate on
> technology for poverty reduction over the web in a structured
discussion
> looking at the issues of;
>
>
>
>
>
> 1. Can we insist upon accountability for technology that fails to
> deliver?
>
>
>
> 2. How do we define 'appropriate technology' in the context of
disaster
> mitigation? Can the developing world bet on local, community-driven
> solutions to reduce vulnerability of people facing natural hazards?
>
>
>
> 3.The widening technology gap - Can South Asia develop its own
> technological agenda for the future, even as the developed world is
> plunging headlong into ever-more modern technologies? Will the region
> run the risk of being left behind in the technology race?
>
>
>
> The discussion will be over e-mail and focused over a period of 10
days
> beginning March 22. We invite you to join and contribute to this forum
> over our website www.duryognivaran.com <http://www.duryognivaran.com/>
.
>
>
>
>
> If you would like to contribute your views, experiences and comments
to
> this stimulating topic, please reply to [log in to unmask] or reply
this
> mail before March 18 to enable registration. Participants will be
issued
> a password and login - using which they can post messages on the
> discussion pages of our website.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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