High-Level Project Summary
The impact of climate change in South Africa has led to frequent occurrences of water shortages and other agricultural impacts that has made it even more challenging to secure sustainable food security in the country. The aim of this research is to identify structures in the agricultural sector wherein useful observations can be made which can help address this growing socio-economic challenge. The solution is aimed at using internet of thigs devices to help local farmers monitor various environmental factors which may affect their crop quality.
Link to Final Project
Link to Project "Demo"
Detailed Project Description
The solution consists of products that can be placed across an area of land wherein crops are planted. The end user (farmer) is able to monitor features such as soil moisture, humidity and pH (to name a few). The interface then allows them to access this time series data to help them in constructing report for study, furthermore it allows them to enlist the help of professional researchers to alert them of potential problems with the crops.
Space Agency Data
https://climate.nasa.gov/,
https://arc.agric.za/Pages/Programmes/Crop-Sciences.aspx
Hackathon Journey
As an educational and research based organization, we wanted to tackle a relatable and familiar problem. We wanted to create awareness particularly to indicate how a seemingly abstract problem (climate change) actually has socio-economic effects that lead to the inflation of food prices, water scarcity and loss of income to businesses. And the realization that an ease of access to open data allows members of the community to potentially serve as part of a greater solution through collaborating and sharing ideas.
References
https://theconversation.com/farming-in-south-africa-is-under-threat-from-climate-change-heres-how-125984,
https://www.sciencedirect.com Graphical Abstract ,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2020.100488
Tags
#water #climate # change #IoT #Design