Automated Operation of Multiple Payloads on Agile MicroSat (AMS)

The Agile MicroSat (AMS) is a 6U CubeSat designed to operate in very low-Earth orbit (VLEO), an orbit which enables a higher ground resolution given a particular optical sensing aperture. AMS was developed by MIT Lincoln Laboratory in collaboration with Blue Canyon Technologies LLC and Enpulsion GmbH. AMS is hosting three disparate payloads: an indium field effect electric propulsion (FEEP) thruster to change and maintain orbit; a laser demonstration payload called Beacon for adaptive optics experimentation; and a camera payload for visible-spectrum imaging. In order to fully exercise the capability of each payload, the AMS operations team has developed an automated end-to-end processing pipeline which handles experiment scheduling subject to constraints, upload of commands and satellite state estimates to our mission partner BCT, and download and ingest of telemetry for operations planning and the creation of data products. An example product includes a change detection algorithm and image publication workflow, using camera images to detect disaster damage. These payload operation tools have enabled daily interleaved payload operations with minimal manual overhead since the AMS launch on SpaceX\u27s Transporter 5 mission on May 25th, 2022. This paper will describe the architecture of our processing pipeline, mission outcomes, and lessons learned

Engineering and Education for Affordable, Sustainable Rainwater Harvesting

663 million people still lack access to improved water sources. Rainwater harvesting, collecting rainwater that falls on roofs, offers a solution, but is often unaffordable for poor families. In collaboration with the NGO Fundación Paraguaya, this project aimed to make rainwater harvesting more feasible through the design of educational materials and inexpensive water storage tanks. The learning module teaches rural youth critical thinking and project management skills and introduces a DIY storage tank made of recycled tires that was ‘ethno-engineered’ for Paraguay’s unique socio-cultural context. Both the module and tank were piloted in Worcester and Paraguay in April 2016. Evaluation is ongoing, but both the module and tank promise to inspire self-efficacy in sustainable development

Dynamics of agribusiness decision making in Uganda

Thesis: S.M. in Technology and Policy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Engineering, Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, Technology and Policy Program, 2018.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (page 58).Uganda is a developing country in East Africa that faces high poverty rates among a confluence of socio-political issues. In the pursuit of fiscal and political stability, international development organizations are working to create an environment in which business prospers and livelihoods are resilient. Agriculture, in particular, employs 75% of the population and accounts for 85% of Uganda's export earnings. However, many smallholder farmers experience volatile cashflows around crop cycles. Consequently, farmer livelihoods are vulnerable to uncertain growing conditions, market price fluctuations, and financial shocks, such as hospital bills or school fees. Subject to a high degree of uncertainty, it is difficult for farmers to improve their quality of life through agriculture alone. Agribusinesses--commodity traders in particular-are well positioned to help farmers access knowledge, goods, and services to increase yields and improve crop quality In some cases, provision of knowledge, goods, and services aligns with an agribusiness's regular profit-earning strategies. For example, some traders provide farmers with financing to purchase seeds and fertilizer at the beginning of the growing season; the farmer benefits from less cash volatility while the trader ensures crops will be available at harvest. This thesis explores the extent to which trader business strategies might be leveraged to mutually benefit agribusiness growth and farmer livelihoods. Specific goals were to identify common business strategies used by agricultural commodity traders and understand the mechanisms by which certain business strategies also benefit farmers. Semi-structured interviews and subsequent qualitative analysis shed light on the types of business strategies traders adopt. System dynamics modeling was then used to explain why certain strategies can be mutually beneficial. The combination of qualitative and quantitative methods yielded unique insight on ways mutually-beneficial behavior might be encouraged.by Katherine R. Picchione.S.M. in Technology and Polic

Quality-Differentiated Pricing Among Agricultural Traders

Key Takeaways: • QDP strengthens agricultural market systems by creating incentives to improve crop quality, leading to increased revenue. • Interventions to improve crop quality and formalize price setting are likely to help institutionalize QDP. • QDP should be further investigated in Uganda to understand its extent and drivers. • Market facilitation projects should encourage reinforcing behaviors that propagate QDP throughout the value chain.The USAID Uganda Feed the Future Value Chain (FTF-VC) project uses a market facilitation approach to strengthen the value chains that serve smallholder farmers in Uganda. One of the goals is to improve profitability for farmers and other value chain actors by enabling improved quality and prices throughout the value chain. In a system where actors value quality and are willing to pay more for better products, farmers have the incentive to engage in practices to improve crop quality. To achieve a market for quality products, actors throughout the supply chain should offer and have access to quality-differentiated pricing (QDP). This study addresses a gap in understanding the factors that affect an actor’s ability to access and incentives to extend QDP.USAI

Farmer Market Engagement Study Survey Tools

USAI

EVALUATING IMPACTS OF COSTA RICA’S - ORGANIC FARMING TRAININGS

El Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganaderia (MAG) of Costa Rica's Eastern Central Region trains farmers to grow organic produce using natural soil bacteria known as Mountain Microorganisms (MM). To date, MAG's MM Training Program has not been evaluated. This report explores the efficacy and the social, economic, and environmental impacts of this program. - We used interviews, focus groups, and observations to conclude that it improves farmers' quality of life. Our recommendations highlight opportunities for MAG to enhance the - MM Program

Preliminary Findings From Agribusiness Interviews

KEY FINDINGS 1. Small agribusinesses have adopted a spectrum of flexible business models. 2. Information is spread through relationships between market actors. 3. Most businesses rely on personal connections for credit; there is widespread distrust of formal financial institutionsUSAI

Uganda Agricultural Market Systems Workshop Summary Report

From the workshop, USAID and its partners have produced seven actionable outputs that will inform investments and partnership opportunities moving forward: 1. A revised set of Uganda’s Agricultural Market Systems map was created, represented by ten subsystems: agro-processing, financial and business services; Production, Post-Harvest Handling and Storage; Human Resources; Inputs Importing & Manufacturing; Input Distribution; Farmer Practices; Commodity Distribution; Regulatory Environment; and Extension Services (Annex 1Uganda’s Agricultural Market Systems Overview Map). 2. Individual participant organizations identified the needed behaviors, ideal relationships and necessary conditions they believed were most important to drive change in the system. This is represented in the Behaviors, Relationships, and Conditions findings found in Annex 2. 3. Data knowns and unknowns were identified by individual participants to catalogue what is already out there and what still needs to be analyzed and commissioned for research (Annex 3Data). 4. All 168 participants “placed” themselves in Uganda’s agricultural market system, through the mapping exercise. This gives all participants a view into what actors are connected to them, both in the room and in the larger marketplace, what behaviors exhibited by what actors exert an influence on them, and what other actors and parts of the system they influence themselves. 5. Having identified areas for intervention and investment through the mapping exercises, a list of participant-identified “Opportunities and Challenges” was created by thematic area (Annex 5Opportunities and Challenges). Narratives supporting the conversations had around opportunities and challenges in these various thematic areas are also included in Annex 6 Narrative Summaries of Thematic Areas Opportunities and Challenges. 6. A participant vote tally on the relative importance of each thematic area. While not providing data to quantify the actual importance or weight of each area, this tally does provide a useful stock-taking or “temperature check” on how to prioritize investments, at least according to the 168 participants in the workshop (Annex 7 Thematic Areas with Participant Votes). 7. A reflection by workshop participants on what different kinds of actors need to start and stop doing to drive systemic change. Again, while not providing an analytically rigorous assessment of what actually needs to happen, this exercise provides a useful view into actor’s perspectives of other actors that they relate to the system (Annex 8 Start and Stop Exercise).In seeking to better understand Uganda’s agricultural market systems, working with partners to co-design programs which address bottlenecks, seize opportunities, and achieve systemic change, in support of the Government of Uganda’s Second National Development Plan, USAID hosted a three-day workshop March 15 - 17th, 2017 where 168 participants and presenters explored a market systems approach and developed a pipeline of actionable opportunities and challenges to inform future programming.USAI

Inputs Subsystem Study

Key Recommendations: Feed the Future Uganda should • Investigate barriers to adoption by input wholesalers/dealers of a mindset focusing on delivering greater value to customers • Examine how output actors selling inputs affects the inputs value chain Market facilitation projects should • Design monitoring strategies that address both the need for longitudinal data and the need for widespread, adaptive measurement • Understand and account for delays in reaping benefits of changesThe USAID Uganda Feed the Future Value Chain (FTF-VC) project uses a market facilitation approach to impact the value chains that serve smallholder farmers in Uganda. This study focuses on the “inputs subsystem”: the part of the value chain that enables farmers to access inputs such as fertilizer and seeds. We aimed to understand whether and to what extent expected changes were occurring in the last four years of FTF-VC work by asking “How has the inputs “subsystem” been changing over time?” We focus on changes in key behaviors and relationships targeted by the FTF-VC project, and how they have manifested in three types of actors (see Figure 1): wholesalers and input dealers (or “agrodealers”), farmers, and output value chain actors (such as collectors / village agents or traders) who are involved in the inputs value chain.USAI