Technology for wildlife protection
Imagine a device that can detect and analyse sound in the forest and send the message to officers securing the woodland notifying them about the exact location and time when someone is cutting down a tree or when an animal is being killed. That is exactly what 21- year-old Information and Communications Technology graduate Believer Umuragwa has developed.
By Emmanuel Simpokolwe:
Imagine a device that can detect and analyse sound in the forest and send the message to officers securing the woodland notifying them about the exact location and time when someone is cutting down a tree or when an animal is being killed.
That is exactly what 21-year-old Information and Communications Technology (ICT) graduate Believer Umuragwa has developed.
His innovation is called eForest, a device with sensors that uses IT and machine learning to analyse sounds when people are undertaking various activities such as cutting down trees.
Umuragwa started researching deforestation and poaching in 2020, where he spoke to various experts to gain insights into how people cut down trees and poach animals and the tools they use.
“As a software developer, I saw an opportunity to develop a device that could help address these problems by detecting and preventing activities that contribute to deforestation and poaching,
“In 2022, I started developing the prototype of my device that could detect poaching, wildfire, or people cutting down trees and alert the patrol team with the GPS location to take action,” he says.
Umuragwa tested his innovation and emerged the winner among several young people in January this year during the Innovation Challenge called FuTURE-M Hackathon, organised by Save the Children in collaboration with Mzuzu eHub.
Under the theme ‘Leveraging Technology for Development’, Hackathon set out to harness the potential of youthful technology enthusiasts in demonstrating the power of innovative thinking to develop tech-enabled solutions to challenges affecting children and youth in Malawi.
After participating in the innovation competition, Umuragwa received seed funding of K3 million from Mzuzu eHub and Save the Children and is now working on buying the materials needed to create the actual device.
“I anticipate several challenges that I need to overcome. One of the challenges is ensuring that all the devices have a network, as most forests do not have strong network connectivity,” he says.
The technology enthusiast further states that another challenge is making sure that the devices are protected from vandalism, as they will be installed in remote locations.
Save the Children Director of Operations Frank Mwafulirwa says, as an organisation, together with Mzuzu Ehub, they are committed to working with and support the improvement and perfection of the prototype.
He says young people in the country have “brilliant knowledge and innovations” but lack of resources is hindering them from turning their prototypes into real products.
“We have youths who have brilliant knowledge but have no resources for them to take their ideas from one level to the next. Time has come for stakeholders to help them,” Mwafulirwa says.
He adds that Save the Children intends to adopt the innovation and run it as a project on its own and that if it cannot stand on its own, they will integrate it in their programming.
The National Commission for Science and Technology (NCST) says it is working towards ensuring that all research and innovations are helping towards achieving the goals of the Malawi 2063 (MW2063) vision.
NCST acting Director General Gift Kadzamira said during the 4th National Research Dissemination Conference that Malawi, like many other countries, cannot achieve socioeconomic development without research and innovation.
“Research helps countries to solve problems in many crucial areas including health, agriculture and education. Solution-based research and innovation in such areas can also help us achieve our vision as a nation,” Kadzamira said.
Malawi, as one of the developing economies in the world, has over the years faced several socio-economic challenges which are associated, among other things, with inadequate communication infrastructure and low utilisation of ICT.
As the country is striving to become “an inclusively wealthy and self-reliant nation by 2063”, the long-term development masterplan sets out several targets, including improved ICT service provision.
The masterplan, launched by President Lazarus Chakwera and being implemented through the National Planning Commission, seeks to transform Malawi into a wealthy and self-reliant “upper middle-income country” by that year.
At the closing ceremony of the 5th Global Sustainable Technology and Innovation Community Conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in 2021, Chakwera described the use and promotion of technology and innovation as the best way of curbing global challenges such as climate change.