“Using named examples, assess the effectiveness of technological leapfrogging in contributing to the development process.”
Technology leapfrogging is a term used to describe the bypassing of technological stages that other countries have gone through. Technology leapfrogging is bypassing some of the processes of growing of human capabilities and fixed investment in order to narrow down the gaps in productivity and output that separate industrialised and developing countries. Leapfrogging involves the technical aspects of implementing new technologies in the existing technological environments, involving the economic, including financial aspects, the power and broader social interests related to existing and new technology systems, and a …show more content…

There are concerns that these companies and those who own property rights have undue influence over the availability of GM crops and the research involved currently only serves the interests of large-scale farmers in developed countries meaning it has very little productivity for the development process – thus increasing the development gap further.
However, there are benefits of GM crops that support the development process. Sub Saharan Africa, well known for its arid climate and also known for its development decline can benefit from GM crops as a technological leapfrog. A gene from a plant which can survive prolonged water stress in desert conditions has been introduced into rice, this allows rice to produce a sugar that protects the plant during dehydration, allowing it to survive periods of drought. In addition, crops can be genetically modified to contain additional nutrients that are lacking from the diets of many people in developing countries. One example is Golden Rice, which has been modified to have enhanced levels of Beta-carotene, in order to help to prevent vitamin A deficiency which 14 million children under five suffer clinically from, which can cause childhood blindness. Thus, the GM crop will assist Sub Saharan African countries with the Millennium Development Goal of eradicating poverty and hunger and general deficiency issues, which will therefore