2011

Submitted to: Dr Rahel

Course: Research Methodologies

Robel Alemayhu and Micheal Gebremeskel HILCOE SCHOOL OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

11/1/2011

Contents
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................................... 2 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................................... 3 PROBLEM FORMULATION ........................................................................................................................................... 4 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY ............................................................................................................................................. 5 BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE ............................................................................................................................. 6 POVERTY EXPLAINED ...................................................................................................................................................... 6 POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGIES ................................................................................................................................. 7 ICT AS POVERTY REDUCTION TOOL................................................................................................................................. 9 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ....................................................................................................................................... 14 APPROACH /METHODS AND PROCEDURES ...................................................................................................15 RESEARCH PLAN AND COST .............................................................................................................................16 WORKS CITED ............................................................................................................................................................17

ABSTRACT
Ethiopia being one of the poorest countries in the world, has been striving towards poverty reduction over the past many years. In the effort to alleviate poverty, the country has considered as a potential tool ensuring access to information, financial services, and income generation and distribution mechanism for the poor. However, the effort to be made is in light of the potential areas that other countries have used ICT for poverty reduction while also considering the challenges. The purpose of this research is to identify the prospects and Challenges of adopting ICT for poverty reduction in Ethiopia. In this research we intend establish the causal relationship between the poverty level and ICT so that we identify the potential areas where ICT could be used in the poverty reduction effort. In addition to the documentary review, interviews with various stakeholders will be used as data collection tools.

INTRODUCTION
Globally nearly majority of the world population lives in poverty. Poverty is seen as the opposite of well-being. Beyond a lack of income, the multidimensional concept of poverty also refers to disadvantages in access to land, credit and services (e.g. health and education), vulnerability (towards violence, external economic shocks, and natural disasters), powerlessness and social exclusion. It is with the understanding of the extent and impact of poverty that almost all governments and other stakeholders have geared their visions and strategies towards reducing poverty in their respective countries. Among various strategies adopted in the effort of reducing poverty, recent trends show that most countries have considered using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as enabling factor in light of the increasing availability of ICT with continuously declining cost. ICT, having different scope, has played various role in terms of creating income generation potential, cost reduction in producing and delivering various public and private products and services in many countries. Nevertheless, it is not without challenges that such multifaceted benefits of ICT has been realised. Ethiopia being one of the poor countries, having nearly 39% UNICEF2009 of its population under international poverty line, has also great potential for adopting ICT in its effort to reducing poverty. Accordingly, the government of Ethiopia has envisioned using ICT in its Growth and Transformation Plan which is expected to be implemented in the years 2010-2015. The prime minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi said,

We did not believe serious investment in ICT had anything to do with facing the challenges of poverty that kills. Now I think we know better. We recognise that it is a vital and essential tool for fighting poverty for beating poverty that kills and ensuring our survival (Zenawi cited in Farrell, G., and Isaacs2007.
The government and other stakeholder have been implementing various ICT oriented programs in an attempt to unlock the potential of ICT in their poverty reduction effort. Lessons learnt from various countries show that adopting ICT requires formulating poverty reduction strategies and policies which consider the level and nature of poverty, the relationship between ICT usage and poverty cases. Hence, in the case of Ethiopia it is imperative that policy makers and implementers for poverty reduction understand the potentials and challenge of ICT in alleviating the level of poverty in the country.

PROBLEM FORMULATION
Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world with a total population of nearly 80 million out of which only 17% residing in urban and semi-urban areas. It has a per capita GNP of only $ 330 UNICEF2009. According to UNDPs Human Development Index(HDI) which aims at measuring the wellbeing of a country, in 2007 Ethiopia has HDI of 0.414, which gives the country a rank of 171st out of 182 countries with data UNDP2007. Having 39% of its population under international poverty line Ethiopia is faced with complex poverty, which is broad, deep and structural. Thus, poverty reduction was and is the central development agenda of the government that guides its development activities. In addition to the government many donor communities and other stakeholder have aligned their core activities towards poverty reduction with such programs like Millennium Development Goals (MDG). Poverty reduction involves setting and achieving goals that are geared towards creating more education opportunity, enhancing economic development and ensuring fair income distribution among other things. Achieving such goals require using infrastructures and resources which are or could be accessible to majority of population. ICT is increasingly being used as a tool of development due to its growing trends in diversity and usage coupled with continuously declining cost of design and implementation ICT infrastructure. It is argued that ICT, if supported with the right policies and with cross-cutting and holistic approaches, will complement and strengthen other multi-sectorial efforts that are required for poverty reduction, including those meeting basic needs. Among the developing countries at least India, Jamaica and South Africa have given a high priority to policies aimed at promoting the use of ICT for development. In Ethiopia as well the availability of ICT is exhibiting significant growth manifested in the growth of mobile subscribers. Hence, if the role of ICT for poverty reduction effort of Ethiopia is indisputable it is imperative that stakeholders comprehend what role ICT can play in alleviating poverty given the specific understanding of the nature, level and cause of poverty. Nevertheless, it must be understood that unlocking the potential of ICT comes with various uncertainties around designing and implementing policies that focus on ICT as development tool.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this study is to investigate and analyse the challenges or prospects of adopting ICT in the poverty reduction effort of Ethiopia. Following thorough literature review on the broad concepts and practical case of poverty and ICT, the research starts from establishing broader understanding of the nature, levels and causes of poverty in Ethiopia and proceeds to understanding the core goals of poverty reduction policies. After identifying the specific goals of poverty reduction, the research intends to find out if ICT is envisaged and implemented as a means to achieve those goals by various stakeholders in Ethiopia. The research stretches to find out the challenges that may have been or will be faced while adopting ICT for poverty reduction. Ultimately, the purpose of this research is help strategists, policy makers and implementers to formulate policies which will help alleviate the level of poverty in Ethiopia using ICT as means. Furthermore, the research will be geared towards identifying the challenges that designers and implementers of may face in their effort to adopt ICT for poverty reduction. Following aims are focused throughout the research: To investigate and analyse the nature, levels and causes of poverty in Ethiopia To identify the poverty reduction goals set by various stakeholders To identify the correlation between the expansion of ICT infrastructure with poverty measures To identify the potential areas where ICT can play significant role in alleviating poverty. To identify the availability of ICT for poverty reduction programs To identify the challenges faced while adopting ICT for poverty reduction

BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE

POVERTY EXPLAINED
Almost half the world over 3 billion people live on less than $2.50 a day. The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (567 million people) is less than the wealth of the worlds 7 richest people combined. Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names. Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didnt happen. 1 billion children live in poverty (1 in 2 children in the world). 640 million live without adequate shelter, 400 million have no access to safe water, and 270 million have no access to health services. Nearly 10.6 million people died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (or roughly 29,000 children per day) Shah2011. Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world. It has a per capita GNP of only $330. Infant mortality is currently 67 per 1,000 children; child mortality stands at 104 per 1,000. About a quarter of adults can read and write. Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa. Population is growing at a rate close to 3 per cent per annum. About 86 per cent of the population depends on rain-fed agriculture UNICEF2009. According to UNDPs Human Development Index(HDI) which aims at measuring the wellbeing of a country, in 2007 Ethiopia has HDI of 0.414, which gives the country a rank of 171st out of 182 countries with data UNDP2007. Having 39% of its population under international poverty line Ethiopia is faced with complex poverty, which is broad, deep and structural. Given the statistics, attempts to describe living standards in a poor economy always suffer from methodological problems and are liable to serious criticism. Various type of definition and measures of poverty have been adopted for different purposes. However, in this research we take the view that different approaches to poverty provide some insight on the extent and nature of poverty. The standard view in the economics literature on poverty has been to take a money metric measure of welfare, i.e. an indicator expressed in monetary terms, such as income or consumption. Then, one determines a minimum level of consumption or income (a poverty line) below which individuals are deemed poor. Nevertheless, the following explanation of poverty will be considered as a general framework in our attempt to establish the link between ICT and poverty.

Poverty has multiple and complex causes. The poor are not just deprived of basic resources. They lack access to information that is vital to their lives and livelihoods: information about market prices for the goods they produce, about health, about the structure and services of public institutions, and about their rights. They lack political visibility and voice in the
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institutions and power relations that shape their lives. They lack access to knowledge, education and skills development that could improve their livelihoods. They often lack access to markets and institutions, both governmental and societal, which could provide them with needed resources and services. They lack access to, and information about, income earning opportunities. P. Marker2002
Poverty stems from a situation where gross inequality of assets persists because of vested interests and entrenched power structures. Markets can provoke collusions that block the potential benefits of competition to the poor, and the disadvantaged can easily fall outside distributional coalitions. Markets can thus be biased in favour of more affluent and powerful social groups and against poor and disadvantaged groups Leyshon Andrew and Nigel Thrift1997. Such biased coalitions are considered as the most significant cause of inequality within societies. The level of the playing field is not even for the poor. Even under otherwise ideal market conditions, the poor may end up paying more, earn less, and they face a number of constraints, to an extent not experienced by others Wealth Inequality, Market Exclusion, and Economic Performance1999 . At national as well as at local levels economic gains may be captured by elites that may form patronage and clientele networks for the redistribution of benefits. Lack of good governance and inadequate legislation or its enforcement may further reinforce such capture Kelles-Viitanen Anita1999.

POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGIES

Poverty is thus a highly complex socio-economic problem that needs to be tackled concurrently in various sectors in order to untangle the Gordian knot of poverty. It is the synergy of combined efforts that produces the most sustainable results Asian Development Bank1999. The face of poverty in various countries is usually different; accordingly the strategies and policies to be adopted are also different. Nevertheless, poverty reduction effort in most countries are generally geared towards reducing the level of poverty in a community, or amongst a group of people or countries by ensuring easy access to quality education, ensuring economic development, securing fair income distribution among others. Poverty reduction efforts may also be aimed at removing social and legal barriers to income growth among the poor. Globally, leaders from over 180 countries endorsed a global poverty reduction strategy called The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) UNDP2006 which aims at reducing poverty until 2015 by specifically targeting to Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Achieve universal primary education Promote gender equality and empower women Reduce child mortality Improve maternal health 7

Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases Ensure environmental sustainability Develop a global partnership for development

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) was conceived by the IMF and the World Bank in 1999, mainly for heavily indebted lowincome countries so that governments in these countries could prepare their own poverty strategy papers in a participatory process together with different domestic and external stakeholders IMF 2011. It is a national plan aimed at pulling the poor out of poverty and bringing sustainable economic growth. A PRSP describes the macroeconomic, structural and social policies and programs that a country will pursue over several years to promote broad-based growth and reduce poverty, as well as external financing needs and the associated sources of financing. Different countries have their own version of PRSP WORLD BANK2005, Rwanda for example has PRSP (2002-2005) and Economic Development Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS) (2008-2012). Nigeria has the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) (20032007), and draft NEEDS 2 (2008-2011). Mozambique has PARPA I (2001-2005) and PARPA II (2005-2009). Most of these PRSPs are done in participatory process and the Ministry of Finance for each country normally takes the responsibility for coordinating the processes. In Ethiopia the MoFED is in charge of this task. According to the MoFED the PRSP in Ethiopia started in 2000 in collaboration with other stakeholders (donors) and evolved into the Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Program (SDPRP) in 2002, which covered the three-year period 2002/03-2004/05 MOFED2006. The Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP) represents the second phase of the PRSP which covers the five-year period 2005/06-2009/10. The PASDEP defines the national strategy for development, lays out directions, and outlines the major policies in the major sectors with the main objective of eradicating poverty within this time frame. As stated above, different stakeholders take part in policy formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and intervention. In other words, a coordinated and well organized mechanism between stakeholders such as different government ministries, NGOs, Community and faith based organizations, donors, UN, and financial institutions such as IMF and the World Bank, development agencies, and the people is required at the various stages of the process of preparing the PRSP and its implementation.

ICT AS POVERTY REDUCTION TOOL

Before discussing ICT as poverty reduction tool, it is necessary to define ICT. By definition, ICTs include electronic networks embodying complex hardware and software - linked by a vast array of technical protocols Mansell and Silverstone1996. ICTs are embedded in networks and services that affect the local and global accumulation and flows of public and private knowledge. According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, ICTs cover Internet service provision, telecommunications equipment and services, information technology equipment and services, media and broadcasting, libraries and documentation centres, commercial information providers, network-based information services, and other related information and communication activities. This is quite an expansive definition Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)1999. It is not uncommon to find definitions of ICTs that are synonymous with those of information technology (IT). For example, Foster defines IT as 'the group of technologies that is revolutionizing the handling of information' and embodies a convergence of interest between electronics, computing and communication Drew, E., and F. G. Foster1994. ICTs are often categorized based on how long they have been in common use, and to some extent the technology used for the transmission and storage of information Alan Greenberg2005.

New ICTs: Computers, satellites, wireless one-on-one communications (including mobile

phones), the Internet, e-mail and multimedia generally fall into the New ICT category. The concepts behind these technologies are not particularly new, but the common and inexpensive use of them is what makes them new. Most of these, and virtually all new versions of them, are based on digital communications.

Old ICTs: Newspaper, books, libraries, Radio, television, land-line telephones and
telegraph fall into the Old ICT category. They have been in reasonably common use throughout much of the world for many decades. Traditionally, these technologies have used analog transmission techniques, although they too are migrating to the now less expensive digital format In most PRSP information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been expected as a powerful tool for development. According to the Ethiopian PRSP-Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) 2010/112014/15 ICT is envisaged to play significant role in ensuring sustainable development, poverty eradication, human resource development, capacity building and good governance through a well-developed and all inclusive capacity augmenting communication technology interventions. Similarly many countries have considered ICT as an enabler in poverty reduction.

However, in 1996, Wresch wrote that the poor are excluded from much of the worlds information and no one has even begun to outline a solution to the problem Wresch1996. In his view, one of the biggest ironies of the information age is that the rich get their information almost free, while the poor have to pay dearly for it, in the case for instance of the price poor people have to pay to make a simple telephone call. The role of ICT in the so-called digital divide has been hotly debated: whether it contributes to poverty reduction, or whether it just reinforces existing divisions between the rich and the poor. No one can deny the fact that the digital divide exists. Judged by Internet connections, the Middle East is the least developed region in the world, followed by Africa. The most developed region, judged by the same standard, is North America, followed by Europe. There are digital divides also within the regions. In South-East Asia, for example, the higher the HDR rank, the higher the ICT indicator value. The higher the human poverty index, the lower the number of ISPs, telephone lines, PCs and TV sets per 1000 persons. The higher the value of ICT indicators (as in the case of Singapore, Brunei and Malaysia), the lower the poverty rank ICT and Poverty :The indisputable Link2001 .

Internet Users by Regions in 2000

Region North America Europe Asia and Pacific Latin America Africa Middle East Total accessforthepoor.htm (22.1.2003). A digital divide exists also within countries, particularly in the developing countries: between economically more and less-developed regions, between urban and rural areas, between poor and well-to-do, between the educated and illiterate, between men and women, and between young and old. We can also expect a divide to exist between a majority population and indigenous ethnic minorities, which traditionally have been excluded from almost all development. If digital divide exists in most countries defining different socio-economic landscape, can ICT be used to alleviate poverty? Could it be that ICT further exacerbate the digital gap? 10 Source: www.ms.dk/uk/Politics_press/Policy_papers/ Number of Users in Millions 167.12 113.14 104.88 16.45 3.11 2.40 407.10

There is an on-going view that IT is totally irrelevant for the poor who are generally illiterate; IT is too expensive for them to reach out to; the poor don.t need fancy IT, they need food. These are the voices of the skeptic. Now in three years there are more than 5000 Telephone Ladies in Bangladesh villages doing roaring business selling telephone service. Mohammed Yunus
2001 It is argued that ICT, if supported with the right policies and with cross-cutting and holistic approaches, will complement and strengthen other multispectral efforts that are required for poverty reduction, including those meeting basic needs. ICT, as a sector, can create some employment opportunities directly to the poor both in the manufacturing of hardware and software. Because of the low educational levels and skills of the poor, we can expect that there are more employment opportunities in the service sector. Grameen Bank in Bangladesh is a good example of this. With the exception of China and the Philippines most of manufacturing is also taking place in the more developed countries such as Malaysia or Taipei Jha Sailesh K.2002. Using ICT in pursuit of development goals allows countries to achieve a wide diffusion of benefits from ICT, which, in the end, will benefit broad-based economic growth, too UNDP 2001 b. In the interest of direct poverty reduction, ICT plays a more important role in enhancing the activities of the poor and increasing their productivity: by increasing their access to market information or lowering the transaction costs of poor farmers and traders. Furthermore, ICT can also help in increasing revenue, efficiency, competitiveness and market access for developing country firms. ICT can also play a major role in helping to monitor food security related issues (weather, droughts, crop failures, pests etc.), and to inform government on impending food scarcities and famines. According to Amartya Sen (1981) and Jean Drze (1999), information plays a key role in preventing food scarcities from turning into famines. Another important goal for ICT use relates to alerting on natural disasters that often lead to major human tragedies. There are many successful examples of the role of ICTs to promote health and education of the poor and preventing poverty that can originate from poor health. In Brazils urban slums, the Committee to Democratise Information Technology (CDI) has created 110 sustainable and selfmanaged community based .Computer Science and Citizenship Schools using recycled technology, volunteer assistance, and very limited funds. CDI schools train more than 25,000 young students per year in ICT skills that give them better opportunities for jobs, education, and life changes. CDI also provides social education on human rights, non-violence, environmental issues, health and sexuality. CDI cites many cases in which participants have developed renewed interest 11

in formal schooling, resisted lure to join drug gangs, and greatly increased their self-esteem World Bank2001. ICT also plays significant role in e-government applications by promoting democracy and increasing participation of the poor in addition to assisting the government in the administration process. According to the Okinawa Charter on Global Information Society everyone, everywhere should be enabled to participate in and one should not be excluded from the benefits of the global information society. Participatory democratic institutions are important for poverty reduction. Often the poor know their problems well, but they lack knowledge of larger socio-economic context of their poverty as well as various options to improve their situations. Development planners, too, need to have direct contact with the poor so as to link the development programs to the realities on the ground. The role of ICT in assisting governments in the creation and continuity of good governance is worth mentioning. The quality of governance is critical to poverty reduction. Good governance facilitates pro-poor policies as well as sound macroeconomic management. It ensures the transparent use of public funds, encourages growth of the private sector, promotes effective delivery of public services, and helps to establish the rule of law. For the poor, getting access to even the most common type of government information or documentation can be a nightmare requiring multiple visits, waste of time and bribes. Top-down provision of information is not sufficient, without an opportunity for feedback. Citizen feedback to government provides a check on bureaucratic abuse and corruption, alerts the government to citizen s needs and concerns, and gives citizens a sense of having a voice in society. Anita Kelles-Viitanen, argued that ICT can contribute to poverty reduction, if it is tailored to the needs of the poor and if it is used in the right way and for the right purposes. It can also boost economic growth, but it is unlikely to lead to poverty reduction in countries where there are persisting and fundamental socio-economic inequalities Kelles-Viitanen Anita1999. Like all technologies, ICT offers tools and applications but no solutions. It is a means to an end. The solutions to the problem of poverty are what they have always been: economic growth, enabling infrastructure, the creation of livelihoods, education and healthcare, and sufficiently democratic government to ensure that economic benefits are not cornered by the powerful elites. By providing cheap and efficient tools for the exchange of information, ideas and knowledge, ICT can become an enabling tool for wider socio-economic development. When properly used, it can greatly increase the ability of the poor to benefit from economic development and from development programs meant to help them. 12

Despite the multifaceted benefits of ICT in poverty reduction strategies, many attempts to implement ICT failed owing to the fact that in some cases ICT was that focus of the decision rather than, the poverty reduction programs. The focal point must be poverty reduction and not ICTs. A reasonable approach is to ask what needs to be done to reduce poverty, and then ask if or how ICTs can help. That being said, when a new technology becomes available, it is understandable that one would want to ask how it can be used to attack poverty. This approach can lead to innovative and effective uses of new technologies, but such projects must be viewed with a healthy dose of scepticism Alan Greenberg2005. Furthermore, ICT projects are challenged due to the fact that technology is generally difficult for the poor. Despite the wide availability and use of technology in the developed world and despite falling unit costs in many areas, good technology implementations are often difficult and costly. Although the outcomes are rarely announced as such, many projects fail and many that are successful far exceed their original budgets. Given these general characteristics, in developing countries where funds and skills are often in short supply, it is unlikely that the overall track record will be significantly better. Moreover, as technology is pushed out to those with few ICT skills, one must overcome the normal fear of the unknown and timidity that goes along with first-time users Alan Greenberg2005. Therefore, if ICT is a means, not the ultimate solution, to alleviate poverty, what could be the characteristics of good ICT in the context of poverty reduction? Defining these characteristics will not only help in determining the availability of such technology in the country but also help formulating ICT strategy that will help in alleviating poverty. According to Alan-Greenberg, for poverty reduction, good uses of ICT must obviously have a positive impact on one or more aspects of poverty. However, as a target for the investment of scarce development funds, there are several additional criteria similar to those criteria applied in most cooperative development projects. ICT should be Alan Greenberg2005 Affordable Affordable means that the project has a reasonable price given the benefits and the funding available. It is easy to find examples of projects which would have poverty reduction benefits, but where the costs far outweigh the benefits or where funding is unattainable on a large scale. Scalable

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Scalable means that if successful, the project can be widely replicated to help many more people. Non-scalable projects often cannot be replicated because the initial conditions are unique, or replication would require other non-financial resources which are in short supply. Self-sustaining The self-sustaining criterion is related to the previous two, but implies that ultimately, the project can continue to help people without external financial or staffing support. Sensible If a project is sensible, it accepts the realities of the environment in which it is operating. As a trivial example, if you are going to deploy PC-based computers, it would only be sensible if you knew that technical support people would be available. Exceptions The previous criteria are, in essence, a rather simple-minded recipe for the successful use of ICT to help alleviate poverty. It is very important to note that projects which do not meet all of the criteria can and will be successful. Because they do not meet one or more of the criteria, they have a somewhat higher risk of failure. This risk can be off-set by other factors which make the project particularly desirable.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The importance of understanding the link between ICT and poverty reduction strategies as envisaged and implemented by different countries draws the framework of this research. This research will investigate and analyse the nature, levels and causes of poverty in Ethiopia and identifies the poverty reduction goals set by various stakeholders with identify the correlation between the expansions of ICT infrastructure with poverty measures. Also it can clearly state the potential areas where ICT can play a huge role for reduction of poverty. The basic challenges faced while adopting ICT for poverty reduction will be stated so as to make them easily solved because the first and basic thing for solving a problem is identifying them. This research will be done not only by using accurate and recent secondary datas like articles those contain the relative feature of this research but also primary and properly collected managed and analysed datas will be used with the proposed time frame and budget. This research will benefit all aspect of Ethiopias population starting from improving individual persons social economical way of living to higher government officials with the policy makers all along.

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APPROACH /METHODS AND PROCEDURES

Research Method
The underlying goal of this research is to identify the potential and problems of adopting ICT for poverty reduction which mainly a socio-economic phenomenon. Hence, the research methods to be adopted are both quantitative and qualitative in nature. For the research we will use different methodologies for different research questions. The research is expected to depend highly on the secondary data which will be obtained through the review of various policy and implementation document from various organs. In addition to analysing secondary data, the research will also use primary data which will be collected through structured and unstructured interviews with various government officials and other stakeholders. Nevertheless, the approaches to be adopted in this research will be guided by the specific research question that we are trying to address. Accordingly, the method that will be used to investigate and analyse the nature, levels and causes of poverty in Ethiopia and identifying the correlation between the expansions of ICT infrastructure with poverty measures will be non-random sampling with unstructured interview of government officials. In addition to the unstructured interview, we would also plan to do hypothesis testing in order to determine the correlation between the trends in ICT indicators and poverty indicators. Documentary analysis coupled with interview will be used to determine the potential areas where ICT is planned or could planned to be adopted in the poverty reduction effort. Furthermore, the same procedures will be used in order to determine the challenges faced by various implementers and designer while adopting ICT for poverty reduction.

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RESEARCH PLAN AND COST

The estimated time required for the completion of the research is as follows. Task Estimated duration 11 20 15 15 10 5 5 15 20 Start Date Nov 16,2011 Dec 15,2011 Jan 10,2012 Jan 26,2012 Feb 11,2012 Feb 22,2012 Jan 10,2012 Mar 1,2012 Mar 20,2012 End date Nov 27,2011 Jan 5,2012 Jan 25, 2012 Feb 10,2012 Feb 21,2012 Feb 27,2012 Jan 16,2012 Mar 15,2012 Apr 10,2012

Preparation and Submission of Research Proposal Complete literature review

Data Collection(Documentary Review) Interview Various government offices Interview Various Donor Organizations Interview Various other stakeholder Data Collection for Hypothesis testing Data Analysis Report Compilation and submission Cost estimation

Description
Laptop Rental EVDO internet usage in order to dig resources Stationary materials Questionnaire Interview government officials over a meal Transportation Report Prepartion and printing Sub Total Contingency (20%) Grand Total

Estimated Cost
5000 1600 2000 3000 2500 3000 2500 19600 3920 23520

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WORKS CITED
Alan Greenberg ICTs for Poverty Alleviation:Basic Tool and Enabling SectorMontreal,Cananda Sida2005 Amartya Sen and Jacques Drze Omibus Comprising Poverty and Famines, Hunger and Public ActionIndiaOxford Univesity Press1999 Asian Development Bank Fighting Poverty in Asia and the Pacific: The Poverty Reduction StrategManilaAsian Development Bank1999 Drew, E., and F. G. Foster Information Technology in Selected CountriesTOKYOUnited Nations University press1994 Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) An Overview of ICT Trends and Policy in Africa.' May 1999ADDIS ABABAUNECA1999 Farrell, G., and Isaacs Survey of ICT and Education in Africa: A SummaryWashington, D.C infoDev/World Bank2007 ICT and Poverty :The indisputable Link Flor Alexander C.BangkokAsian Development2001 Reginal Economic Cooeration in Asia and the Pacific on Third Asia Development Forum IMFIMF Poverty Reduction Paper[Online]2011[Cited: 18 november 2011

]http://www.imf.org/external/NP/prsp/prsp.asp Jha Sailesh K. ICT and Economic Growth in AsiaHelsinkiUNU WIDER2002 Kelles-Viitanen Anita Employment of Women in Uganda: From Disabling to Enabling Environment. Employment Generation and Poverty Reduction in UgandaAddis AbabaILO 1999 Leyshon Andrew and Nigel Thrift Money/Space. Geographies of Monetary

Transformation.London and NeyorkRoutledge1997 Mansell and Silverstone Communication by Design: The Politics of Information and Communication TechnologiesOXFORDOUP1996 MOFED A Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP) ADDIS ABAMOFED2006 Mohammed Yunus Key Note Speech for the Conference on Making Globalisation Work for the Poor the European ContributionSwedenKramfors2001 P. MarkerK.McNamara and L. Wallace The significance of information and communication technologies for reducing povertys.l.DFID2002

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ShahAnupCauses of Povertyglobalissues.org[Online]2011[Cited: 18 NOMEMVER 2011 ]http://www.globalissues.org/issue/2/causes-of-poverty UNDPUNDP Millennium Goals[Online]2006[Cited: 21 november 2011

]http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ UNDP Creating a Development Dynamic: Final Report of the Digital Opportunity

Initiative.[Online]2001 b[Cited: 12 November 2010]www.opt-init.org/framework/ pages/es.html UNDPHuman Development Index report[Online]2007[Cited: 18 NOVEMBER 2011

]http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/ETH.html UNICEFUNICEF COUNTRY STATISTICSUNICEF[Online]2009[Cited: 21 november 2011 ]http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/ethiopia_statistics.html Wealth Inequality, Market Exclusion, and Economic Performance BowlesSamuels.l.Deutsche Stiftung fr Internationale Entwicklung1999 A Paper presented at the Villa Borsig Workshop Series on Poverty and Development World Bank Information and Communication Technologies and poverty (C. Kenny, J. NavasSabater, C. Qiang. Web draft2001 WORLD BANKCountires PRSP[Online]2005[Cited: 18 November 2011

]http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTPOVERTY/EXTPRS/0,,contentMDK WreschW. Disconnected: Haves and Have-Nots in the Information AgeNew Brunswick Rutgers University Press1996

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