Denis Opudo
Scott Massey is a graduate of Purdue University as well as the founder of Heliponix LLC; his startup. This developed startup is a kitchen tool, which grows garden vegetables all year and he believed it would offer sustainable solutions to many farmers. Recently, he traveled to Togo in Africa so that he could lead a workshop, to enlighten Togolese on developing an agricultural method, which offered sustainability. Therefore, this program was based on the hydroponic system at the University of Lome.
In Togo, most of the citizens depend on subsistence farming, and it is crucial for the country to improve its agriculture for the sake of improving the yield without investing a lot of capital. As a result, this compelled Massey to bring hydroponic into this country because it involved growing plants in liquids through utilization of the soil. This farming system is good because it uses less water for the whole year at a much faster rate.
Massey conducted this program with the help of his friend Delia Diabangouaya whom he met at Purdue University. With the help of the Mandela Washington Fellowship Reciprocal Exchange Component, the two had lectures at the University of Lome so that they could enlighten students on the hydroponic technology so that they would implement this farming back at home. Some of the problems incurred during the development of this farming system are language barrier, and differences in measuring units between Togo and the US. However, locals who were familiar with the landscape solved this problem.
This program provided the locals with lectures regarding funding of the entrepreneurial ventures, principles of hydroponics, and 3D printing. Massey communicated with the help of a translator, and the participants had the chance to experience the building of the taught systems. The participants were able to record some of the critical procedures, and the organizers of this lecture created an open-source design, which had manuals written in different languages. Therefore, this program would help many subsistence farmers in Togo and Africa at large in producing more food produce all-round the year, guaranteeing food security.
