Make rural kids the smart farmers of tomorrow.

Why?

Climate change. In the developed world it might mean warmer summers and rainy winters. If you live in a rural, less affluent developing country, the consequences of climate change are becoming increasingly visible. A less successful harvest will impact your income, livelihood, family and community. For the farmers of the future in these countries, the challenge is not only to respond to the consequences of climate change but to predict and prepare for it. To produce more crops and healthier livestock. So their families, communities and the region, don’t just survive but prosper.

Through the EduClima program, we want to teach students from the highest classes of rural primary schools’ knowledge about the climate and climate change, in which a low-cost internet connected climate station plays an important role.

Henk Smeenk

manager at EduClima

How?

Currently there is a huge gap in climate information regarding micro climates in specific rural areas around the globe. Therefore, any data that gets tracked is incredibly useful. This is where climate stations are invaluable.

A climate station measures rainfall and maximum and minimum daily air pressure, air humidity and temperature. In addition, locating climate stations in primary schools in rural areas, children gain first-hand experience of the effects that climate has on crops. The knowledge that the students acquire from the local climate history will enable them to observe changes in the climate and forecast future scenarios. Allowing them to grow larger and healthier crops. Moving from basic subsistence farming to a future where tomorrow’s farmers increase their own and their communities’ prosperity. And some of these children might become the climate change agents of the future.

What?

Climate data is great. But it really only has the power to transform lives if it can be shared. In rural communities in Peru, Tanzania and Sri Lanka there are estimated to be 1.3 million schools that don’t have power let alone the internet. To solve this, EduClima has developed the Cruquius Climate Station; a climate station that works on solar energy, removing the need for electricity. Allowing children to see climate data on the build-in display and understand its impact for the very first time.

In 2018 there will be 150 climate stations installed in these rural communities. The ambition is to have 50,000 climate stations in these areas within five years. And ultimately, equip every rural school in developing countries with this essential equipment. This allows the kids to locally use the climate station to monitor and learn.

So that’s the local data taken care of. Sharing this data globally is where Hiber comes in. Hiber’s Low Power Global Area Network (LPGAN) changes everything. Delivering affordable, easy access using a low power, low cost satellite service with truly global coverage means sharing climate data from remote communities is possible for the first time.

Thanks to Hiber, the climate and weather data can easily be sent to the cloud. Enabling EduClima to then sell this data to commodity traders, insurance companies and scientific institutions. Companies hungry for insights about microclimates and the effects of climate change on future crops and yields. Which in turn helps finance even more climate stations. A ‘Circle of Life’ or crop circle of life, if you like.

Who?

EduClima is a non-profit project of the Dutch company DCS Commercio, located in Arnhem. Their ambition is to roll out LPGAN enabled Cruqius climate stations to 50,000 rural primary schools over the next four years. What is so special is that, before Hiber, this would not have been affordable or possible. Meaning that EduClima is entering a marketplace where no competitors exist. Truly world changing.

In addition, EduClima is supported by volunteers, who have developed study material to allow children to easily learn how to work with the climate stations. This material will help the students interpret the data from the climate stations. Creating a program that will help lift their rural communities out of poverty. And transform these children into the smart farmers of tomorrow.