Digital boost for African farmers

e-Science project trials new portable field technologies

September 2011

Developing Africa’s agricultural potential is an essential mandate of the food security challenge. Whilst other continent’s food production has outpaced population growth, Africa produces about the same amount of food per head as it did in 1960.

Underdeveloped infrastructure holds back agricultural advances and makes the delivery of water, fertiliser and equipment more challenging and expensive. The digital revolution, however, offers opportunities for information to bypass old road networks and deliver both education and practical benefits on the ground to farmers across the continent.

The Village e-Science for Life project (VESEL), funded by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPRSC), aims to enable rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa to increase agricultural output and employ best practises by using appropriate digital technologies.

Mobile measurements

For instance, in some areas of Kenya local variations in growing conditions can cause severe fluctuations in crop yields. The VESEL project is about providing the right information at the right time to farmers so that can use the available water more efficiently and minimise waste.

VESEL focuses on the use of mobile resource kits that contain a device developed by engineers at the University of Leeds and tested at London’s Kew Gardens. A special sensor device gathers data on air temperature, humidity, air pressure, light, soil moisture and temperature so key agricultural decisions about planting, fertilisation, irrigation, pest and disease control and harvesting can be made with the best information available.

The sensors can operate up to four and a half months on batteries while updating information every 20-30 minutes. Various factors have been considered during their development, including network performance, Internet link reliability, and solar cell capacity weighed against power-hungry flash memory use.

The mobile resource kits also include a solar powered laptop with global positioning software so data can be uploaded and shared between sites via a wireless network server, based at the village school for example. The data can then be sent to local experts who will provide advice to assist farmers’ decisions. The system can also use the ongoing data to assist agricultural teaching at Kenyan schools.

Two very different locations in Kenya were chosen for the pilot phase of this project. Kiangwachi, near Mount Kenya, is in the central highland areas where the land is generally fertile and the rich soil receives regular rainfall to support well-watered fields of maize, beans, wheat and vegetables. As a contrast, Kambu, in the south of the country is one of the poorest parts of Kenya and faces severe challenges including drought, environmental degradation, and regularly suffers from famine.

Part of the Bridging the Global Digital Divide network, the project is led by the London Knowledge Lab, and involves UK researchers working with the University of Nairobi and rural communities in Kenya.