Research
What
The product would ideally be able to facilitate the planting of the following crops and trees:
Beans
Tomatoes
Mukau Tree (Furniture, Construction), Winter Thorn (Crop Yields, Shade), Calliandra Calothyrsus (Crop Yields, Soil Fertility, Shade), Moringa Oleifera (Drought Resistance, Medicine), Grevillea Robusta (Crop Yields, Soil Fertility, Water Infiltration), Azadiratcha Indica (Pesticide, Fertiliser, Soil Fertility), Markhamia Lutea (Soil Fertility)
Who
The product would affect 2 main categories of people: Farmers in western and southwestern Kenya and anyone who wishes to plant trees on a larger scale, like fencing, tree restoration, and cash tree farming.
Where
The project would mainly affect farmers in the western and southwestern Kenyan counties of Tharaka-Nithi, Nyeri, Uasin, Gishu, Narok, Meru, Kiambu, Kericho, Kisii, Busia, Trans Nzoia, Laikipia, Nyandarua, Bomet, and Murang’a.
Why
Kenya is a very variable country in terms of climate and farming conditions and requires severe determination in order to break even when farming. The major challenges faced by subsistence farmers are droughts, heavy rainfall and flooding, and threats from wild animals, and the first is the one I wish to confront. The reason I want to confront it is that I think that easing the workload of the average subsistence farmer is something that would improve the livelihood stability and mental health of many farmers.
Define
Problem: Low-cost speed of planting large numbers of subsurface seeds without machinery.
Solution: Design a low-cost, easy-to-use device that will facilitate and accelerate the process of planting subsurface seeds by hand.
The following table shows the time it takes for me to plant 10 small seeds using a normal Jembe in soft soil and in hard soil.
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