Agriculture is a vital part of Uganda’s economy, supplying significant employment to Ugandan citizens. With the effects of climate change, the economy of Uganda could be heavily impacted. Severe weather and droughts impact agriculture and crop yield, which could have a devastating effect.
To combat these issues, farmers have turned to irrigation farming to ensure food security, but this type of farming can result in water waste, and reliance on fossil fuels for pumps that pollute the water.
A team of students from the IEEE Uganda Section Young Professionals have teamed up with the Movement Of Women in Action to create a solar-powered smart pump.
The water pump lowers water waste by using an on-and-off switch that provides more exact control of the water used. Also, by using solar energy to power the pump, there’s no need to burn fossil fuels and further pollute the environment.
The project is comprised of two different systems: both hardware and software. The hardware drives the pumps and collects real-time data. The software is an Internet of Things web platform with a user-friendly interface to analyze the data and provide notifications to users.
The team aims to provide low-cost access to clean water in an energy-efficient way to reduce environmental impact and empower local farm communities.
This project was made possible by a $9,877.69 grant from EPICS in IEEE.