Overcoming digital poverty traps in rural Asia

• Published date: 01 August 2023
• Author: Edward B. Barbier
• Date: 01 August 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/rode.12962

SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE

Overcoming digital poverty traps in rural Asia

Edward B. Barbier

Department of Economics, Colorado

State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

Correspondence

Edward B. Barbier, Department of

Economics, Colorado State University,

Fort Collins, CO 80253-1771, USA.

Email: edward.barbier@colostate.edu

Abstract

The rapid spread of information and communication

technology (ICT) in Asia offers the promise of a “digital

revolution”for agriculture. But realizing such gains

will depend on overcoming digital poverty traps,

whereby significant numbers of poor smallholders

inhabiting remote regions are unable to take advantage

of the benefits of ICT for agriculture and thus remain

mired in poverty. This phenomenon is illustrated in a

model of a poor household located in a remote region

that cannot accumulate sufficient ICT skills. To avoid

such outcomes, policies need to be targeted at both the

lack of access by smallholders to ICT for farming and

their insufficient skills to use the new technologies.

Increased public investments to extend “last-mile infra-

structure”in digital services are necessary but not

sufficient. Complementary investments in developing

rural infrastructure, appropriate ICT business models

and services, and improvement of the digital literacy of

smallholders are also essential.

KEYWORDS

Asia, digital agriculture, digital divide, emerging market and

developing countries, information and communication

technology (ICT), market access, poverty traps, smallholders

JEL CLASSIFICATION

O3, O13, Q16, R11

Received: 24 June 2022 Revised: 7 October 2022 Accepted: 16 November 2022

DOI: 10.1111/rode.12962

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distrib ution and

reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2022 The Author. Review of Development Economics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Rev Dev Econ. 2023;27:1403–1420. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/rode 1403

1|INTRODUCTION

The rapid spread of information and communication technology (ICT) in Asia offers the promise

of a “digital revolution”for agriculture in the region (Asian Development Bank [ADB], 2021).

The dissemination of ICT supports farmers by improving access to markets through real-time

data on prices; weather forecasts; and information on pests, seed varieties, and planting tech-

niques (Aker, Ghosh, & Burrell, 2016; Fabregas, Kremer, & Schilbach, 2019;Trendov,Varas,&

Zeng, 2019). This can in turn accelerate the transformation of agriculture and food system by

increasing farm productivity and efficiency; improving farmers' access to output, input, and finan-

cial markets; and facilitating the design and delivery of agriculture policies (Schroeder,

Lampietti, & Elabed, 2021). Especially encouraging is the potential of mobile technologies, partic-

ularly smartphones, in disseminating agricultural extension services and advice to smallholder

farmers in emerging markets and developing economies (Aker et al., 2016; Baumüller, 2018;

Fabregas et al., 2019; Trendov et al., 2019). Evidence to date suggests that digitally delivered

advice to farmers in these economies increases yields by around 4% and the probability of

adopting recommended inputs by 22%, which may be critical to reducing poverty, food insecurity,

and environmentalrisks (Fabregas et al., 2019).

However, the potential of ICT for reducing poverty and transforming agriculture in Asian

emerging markets and developing countries could be thwarted by the “digital divide”within rural

areas (Deichmann, Goyal, & Mishra, 2016;Fabregasetal.,2019; International Telecommunica-

tions Union [ITU], 2021; Mehrabi et al., 2021; Quimba, Rosellon, & Calizo, 2020; Schroeder

et al., 2021; Trendov et al., 2019). That is, substantial gaps exist between different farming

populations and regions in terms of both the availability of ICT and data services and their ability

to use them. In rural Asia, the digital divide between those who do and those who do not have

access to ICT is defined by two interrelated factors: access to technology and adequate skills to

use it (ITU, 2021; Quimba et al., 2020; Schroeder et al., 2021; Trendov et al., 2019).

Both factors are linked to poverty. First, poorer and more remote communities in rural Asia

have limited access to ICT because of high costs and a general lack of reliable electricity and

other infrastructure. Second, the smallholders within these communities have insufficient

human capital skills and knowledge to reap the benefits of digital technologies for farming, and

they do not have the income and wealth to invest in the necessary education and training. In

short, isolated rural communities are most in need of improved digital connectivity to compen-

sate for their remoteness, but they are often the least connected to allow access to ICT. Equally,

poorer smallholders in such communities could benefit significantly from the additional pro-

ductivity and income from adopting ICT for farming but lack the skills and means to do so.

This interplay between poverty, remoteness, and low ICT skills in rural areas can lead to

digital poverty traps. Smallholder households inhabiting regions with poor market access and

infrastructure often have insufficient wealth to accumulate the human capital necessary to

adopt ICT for agriculture. Consequently, such households are prone to persistent poverty, from

which they are unable to escape. If sufficiently large numbers of smallholders and communities

in rural Asia suffer from digital poverty traps, then this outcome may have economy-wide

implications. First, it will slow down the ability of ICT to transform agriculture and food sys-

tems in Asia by boosting farm productivity and efficiency (ADB, 2021; Schroeder et al., 2021;

Trendov et al., 2019). Second, if digital poverty traps are widespread, they will perpetuate the

problem of “poverty hotspots”in rural Asia, which is becoming a hallmark of current and pro-

jected global poverty trends (Ahmadzai, Tutundjian, & Elouafi, 2021; Barbier & Hochard, 2018;

Cohen, Desia, & Kharas, 2019; Graw & Husmann, 2014; Kharas & Dooley, 2022).

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