Information provision - key to reducing rural Poverty

It is commonly said that information is power. But what makes information powerful?

Most rural villages are deprived of development because they do not have information. They do not have information because they don't have access to it. If only they had access to it, they would have been better than they are today.

Imagine yourself as you are reading this piece. Imagine if you were in the village where the term internet does not even exist even in this era. How would your life be like, now that you know what internet has to offer. Think of how much you have learned through the internet. How has that information changed you so far? I should think it is for the better.

Now imagine how that person without access to the internet would have changed if had simillar exposure. By now, you know where am going to. If still not sure, read on.

If governments made the initiative to provide all people with necessary information to help them lift themselves out of poverty, the world would have been different. I write this with Africa in mind where most people live below the poverty line. Much as not everybody can be rich, but most of them would be better than they are today if they had access to relevant information for their personal development.

I have written on diffrent agriculture topics and how farmers can change their destiny. It is interesting to note that there are people out there looking for the 'how to' for them to move out of poverty. I feel good when i hear testimonies from some people who have managed to swim out of poverty after reading articles featuring some successful farmers. Sometimes, they think only town people can do better until they find someone within the village, community who has managed to rise above the village standard and consider such as a role model.

One thing that we should all bear in mind is that providing information to rural people is very costly. The cheapest is radio but not all will have access to a radio receiver. Traditional means such as drama become ideal but sometimes they fail to provide the exact. Most organizations fall into the trap of flooding the villages with literature which is even much difficult to accomplish the purpose considering the high illiteracy rate you encounter in most countries.

This challenge cannot be solves within a short period of time but if deliberate effort is applied, we can all achieve and make the world a better place to live where everybody can afford a basic need.