Programmes and Projects

Information and Communication Technologies
at the Service of the Rural Poor of
Latin America and the Caribbean

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World Bank
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Rome, 2005

ABSTRACT

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are a potentially revolutionary means of empowering the poor. This study by the FAO Investment Centre Division reviews recent experience in applying ICTs in the fight against rural poverty and identifies ways in which donor interventions can make effective use of ICTs to improve the living conditions of rural communities in Latin America and the Caribbean. It draws on ICT interventions undertaken in Latin America and on case studies reviewing World Bank sponsored interventions in Nicaragua and Ecuador. Realizing the empowering potential of ICTs will require investments to increase access in remote low productivity areas and development of innovative applications that cater to the needs of the poor and small firms.

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