Helvetas Horticulture System

This bachelor thesis lays the foundation of a new project with HELVETAS Nepal. As part of their “Food Security and Nutrition” undertaking, HELVETAS is focusing on basic human needs such as clean drinking water, food, education, and peace. Specifically with the help of this bachelor thesis, HELVETAS tries to streamline their support for local Nepali farmers that live far away from larger cities or villages and therefore have no access to agricultural assistance.
The main idea behind the “HELVETAS Horticulture System” is the distribution of Android phones to local farmers and the creation of a ticketing system that allows these farmers to receive help online without the need of an expert actually visiting the remote villages. This approach not only saves precious time but also allows HELVETAS to dispatch their resources appropriately and effectively. The system brings great analytical benefits as well. HELVETAS analysts are able to use the collected data for situation assessments and may detect recurring problems, such as a spreading pest infestation in a specific area.
While the system is first and foremost being developed for horticulture application under Open Source GPL3 terms, the core follows a strictly generic approach which allows the system domain to be expanded to different areas such as health care.
Within the boundaries of this bachelor thesis lie the following key tasks:
• In-depth analysis of the problem and tasks at hand.
• Establishment of concepts and appropriate solutions.
• Development of a system prototype for further development by HELVETAS.
• Extensive documentation of code, system administration and system usage.
In this document, the problem specifics, requirements, key tasks, and established solutions and conclusions will be described in detail. The thesis aims to explain concepts and system architecture in a way that is understandable and straightforward, so that the system may be continuously developed by HELVETAS software developers in the near future.