AFU Agritech Lab Releases Open-Source Soil Moisture & Crop Telemetry Hardware Design

Engineers at African Future University have published open-source hardware designs for a solar-powered soil telemetry node designed specifically for smallholder farms.

Built using low-cost microcontrollers and moisture probes, the devices transmit soil moisture, salinity, and temperature metrics via LoRaWAN radio networks to farm cooperative dashboards, preventing over-irrigation and crop stress.

AFU will distribute 5,000 pre-assembled units to cooperative farming associations in Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Uganda during the upcoming planting cycle.