Using named examples, assess the effectiveness of technological leapfrogging in contributing to the development process

Technological leapfrogging is the process of skipping inferior technology in order to reach a more efficient and cost-effective solution. Technology can increase the access to many resources such as mobile communications, internet and genetically modified crops which can help an area to become less technology poor and therefore increase communications, increasing development.

An example of where technology leapfrogging has been successful is in Afghanistan. Only 1% of the population had access to landlines due to poor infrastructure being available due to the physical desert and mountainous terrain and also the fact that there were unexploded Russian bombs meaning the pylons would have been unsafe. Despite this mobile phone technology was implemented here and 76% of the population have access as it is cheap. Bottom up solutions have also allowed technological leapfrogging to be successful due to the fact in India mobile phones have 7 million subscribers a month and the locals are able to afford it as they can charge the batteries up on car batteries and it increased rural to urban communication. Genetically modified crops have increased food security in Africa as previously the population was growing by 3% whilst the agriculture was growing by 2%.

There are also examples where technological leapfrogging hasn’t been as successful. In 1999 60% of the foods in UK supermarkets contained some form of genetically modified crop however in 2001 this had reduced to 2 products. Greenpeace highlighted the issues that arose from GM crops and we are unable to know what the long-term effects may be. Golden rice’s was meant to increase the amount of Vitamin a in Africa however 5kg would be needed to reach a child recommended daily allowance. It can also lead to a reduction of jobs as 60000 farms were shut down. Some of the technology may still be too expensive for the poorest countries.

In conclusion, technological leapfrogging is a positive thing as it means that the world can be a more convergent place and technology is transferred to allow there to be a reduction in technological poor areas