SmartCoop: Creating a smart sensing chicken coop for use in rural Africa

在东部和南部非洲的农村地区，鸡和蛋是营养和收入的主要来源。当地的鸟类品种通常由妇女在家庭中饲养，她们a)直接消费农产品或b)向城市市场出售农产品。迄今为止，大多数家禽养殖都是小规模的（少于50只），但有很大的机会向富裕的中产阶级出售更多的农产品，并帮助妇女及其家庭赚取更多的钱。这个为期18个月的项目（SmartCoop）旨在通过结合两种创新技术来支持农村家禽生产规模的扩大：自建鸡笼（由Inkukakaya在整个南非销售）和鸟声硬件和分析（由英国中小企业AgsenZe开发）。总之，该项目将产生一种配备决策支持工具的新型鸡舍，使女性养鸡者能够通过提供农业和基本商业/商业课程（通过与NOSA合作）来降低死亡率、增加产量和提高技能。我们预计该项目的产出将影响个人（增加蛋白质供应和直接收入）、社区（通过组建一个由女性领导的合作社）和全国。

Chicken and eggs are a major source of both nutrition and income in rural parts of Eastern and Southern Africa. Local bird breeds are often reared in family homes by women who a) directly consume produce or b) sell produce to urban markets. To date, most poultry farming is performed at small scales (<50 birds) but there is a great opportunity to sell more produce to wealthier middle-class people and help women and their families to earn more money. This 18-month project (SmartCoop) aims to support the scale-up of rural poultry production by combining two innovative technologies: self-building chicken coops (sold throughout Southern Africa by Inkukakaya) and bird sound hardware and analytics (developed by UK SME AgsenZe). Together, this project will yield a new class of chicken coop equipped with decision support tools to enable female growers to reduce mortality rates, increase production and upskill through delivery of both agricultural and basic business/commercially-orientated courses (via partnership with NOSA). We expect outputs of this project to impact individuals (increased protein availability and direct revenue), communities (through formation of a female-led co-operative) and nationally.