2017 ICT4D Conference

Food insecurity is a complex global problem, with approximately one in eight humans struggling with insufficient access to adequate nutrition. India accounts for the largest share of the world’s food insecure population despite more than four decades of subsidized food production, distribution, and consumption. We report results from a four-year project investigating the public distribution of food using ICT interventions in Chhattisgarh, India. Usable technologies offer beneficiaries the freedom to choose when, where, and how they wish to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed right to food access. We measure the extent to which geographic location and socioeconomic status affect utilization of user freedoms. Our analysis has significant implications for framing national ICT policies in ways that emphasize frugal, flexible, local alternatives to mega e-infrastructures