In Sub-Saharan Africa, where most irrigation systems are manually operated, water allocation and irrigation scheduling are often based on uniform application irrespective of crop needs and growth stages, which results in nonoptimal water use. Recently, a lot of research has been carried out to improve irrigation water use efficiency through automation by employing wireless sensor-based monitoring systems. Further to the improvement of water use efficiency and yield, while reducing costs, a field trial was carried out at a farm in Harare, Zimbabwe, during the 2016, 2017, and 2018 winter seasons to test whether a new approach to the automated irrigation systems, one based on IoT and wirelessly connected soil sensors (called hereafter as WCSS), improves water use efficiency without reducing yield. WCSS method was compared with three widely used conventional irrigation methods, that is, manual scheduling, tensiometer-based scheduling, and weather-based scheduling. Impacts on water savings and yield of winter wheat crops under drip irrigation were evaluated. WCSS saved up to 25% more water compared to typical fixed irrigation schedule rates used by wheat growers during the winter season.
The people living in remote parts of the underdeveloped world usually do not have access to affordable internet, either because it is too expensive to lay fibre to these areas or mobile data is just too expensive to use every day. There has always been a need to find a way to bring fast, cheap, and reliable internet access to these people. This is where the TV white spaces (TVWS) or unused TV band spectrum comes in. TVWS refers to the gaps found between TV channels. It can be used to provide cheaper and reliable broadband to remote areas. Wi-Fi typically covers short distances and has trouble passing through obstacles. TVWS, on the other hand, can travel long distances and can penetrate obstacles. This makes TVWS suitable for long distance internet provision in remote areas. This chapter explores the possibilities and advantages of delivering broadband to remote areas of underdeveloped nations using TVWS with the intention of poverty reduction. The concept of TV channels digitalization also frees the whole analogue TV spectrum and allows it to be used in TVWS technology.
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