The problem of economic development in the Global South was recognized as one of the defining challenges of the twentieth century. Professor Duller, a Dutch economist who worked in advisory and research capacities across various developing nations, demonstrates in Development Technology (originally published in 1982) how these challenges could be addressed through the application of specially designed or adapted technology.

The author observes that development planners had been misled by apparent parallels between nineteenth-century Western industrialization and late twentieth-century conditions in third world countries. While Western industrialization drew its workforce from agriculture during periods of low demographic growth and high industrial employment, the Global South faced different circumstances: rapidly increasing populations and modern technologies that provided limited employment opportunities. The strategies advocated since the 1950s had largely failed to achieve self-sustained economic growth in these nations.

Professor Duller argues that the solution remained technological but required a radically new approach that responded to the actual conditions prevailing in much of the developing world.