Interesting few days with lots of new ideas developing. When you are working in remote communities there is a big question about how you give access to farming information to smallholders. We want them to grow crops which are new to them and so information about sowing, crop husbandry, pests and harvesting techniques are all really important. So, yesterday it was great to be at Bunda University and see their ideas for an ICT Kiosk which can be sited in rural areas and solar powered.
The UK company behind Raspberry Pi (google it) have some great products specially developed for this kind of work. Our hope is to have a Wi-Fi enabled kiosk in the rural areas powered by low energy Raspberry Pi technology and equipped to allow farmers to connect via smartphones.
It’s amazing to think that technology like this can enable farmers to move forward several hundred years in terms of their understanding of farming and farm techniques. I just need to find someone to build the Kiosks….
Malawi Fruits 