HCD Connect Reflection Stories

8/22/2019 HCD Connect Reflection Stories

1/18

MICROGRANTS

2012


2/18

Micro

grantsIDEO.og is pod to hae sppoted eight pojects fom acossthe gobe as pat of o fist cass of HCD Connect Micogants.O Micogant ecipients sed hman-centeed designmethods to tacke agicte chaenges fom Pe to Ethiopia.

Assisted by a pane of si epets with agicte, socia secto

and design backgonds, IDEO.og seected seen Micogant

pojects to eceie $5,000 eseach gants (to assist in the

Hea stage of the hman-centeed design pocess) and one

poject to eceie a $10,000 impementation gant (to assist in

the Ceate and Deie stages of the HCD pocess).

As the fist cyce of Micogants came to a cose, ecipients

wee asked to smmaize and thei epeiences in the fied by

pbishing efection stoies on the HCD Connect patfom. Hee

ae those stoies.

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3/18

3

Designing agrounDWater

Meter

This team from Stanford used their HCD ConnectMicrogrant to fund a project using human-centered designto create a low-cost device called the Paani Meter thatmeasures groundwater availability in rural India.

HCD Connect Page: http://tinyurl.com/

groundwatermeter


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One of the most fantastic things abot the HCD Connect patfom

is that it has faciitated knowedge tansfe in the HCD commnity

enabing me to eeage off a pethoa of eisting knowedge. So,thanks again to eeyone who has been in toch and to IDEO.og fo

giing s this oppotnity to shae, ean, and gow!

In the contet of the HCD pocess, the main esson that Ie eaned

is how aabe the Hea component is in design thinking. Biding

empathy fo yo end-se is an inaabe key stepping stone fo

biding a stong fondation to tacke yo design chaenge, and

shod not be oeooked. When I efect back on each of the tips

Ie made back to India oe the past 4 yeas, Ie seen how moe

and moe empathy wok has gien me additiona obseations

and sbseqent insights that hae efamed my oigina chaenge

towads something tangibe and desied by the peope we ae tying

to actay design fo. Athogh, Ie been woking on my design

chaenge fo thee yeas now, the HCD pocess has poided me

with focs, insight, and a path fo moing fowad!

One of the biggest insights gained fom the HCD pocess is how

impotant fame-to-fame knowedge tansfe wi be in tacking

o design chaenge. This key insight was a podct of many obse-

ations I made ding my deep die tips to India and the discs-

sions that Ie had with many ses on the HCD patfom. Moing

fowad with this insight, we now hae a mtitde of How Might

We statements to bainstom aond to find potentia sotions to

o oigina chaenge: How can a commnities manage scace

wate esoces sch that food secity can be achieed?

Biding off o key insights, bainstoming, themes, and famewoks

that wee deeoped in the past thee months, we contine to

joney deepe into the Ceate potion of the HCD pocess in the

pcoming months. In Mach-Api, I be etning to India to condct

a bainstoming session with o NGO patnes and paa-hydoo-

gists (oca fames who hae been tained to se the Paani Mete) to

ceate new famewoks, bainstom new sotions, and begin poto-

typing and testing.

I inite yo a to keep foowing s on o ente and contine to

shae yo inaabe sggestions and comments!!

KnoWleDgetransFer

It has been an incredible threemonths! Ive learned an extraordinary

amount through the HCD process.One of the most pleasant surprisesfrom this experience has been the

feedback that Ive received from thelarger HCD community. Many of theA-Ha moments that have come in

the past three months have beenfrom comments, suggestions, and

personal stories from other HCDConnect users.

DESIGNING A GrOuNDWATEr METEr

by Melissa Rohde


5/18

5

school FooDgarDens innicaragua

This project received Microgrant funding to conduct human-centered design research exploring sustainable ways to createschool garden programs that meet the dietary needs ofstudents in rural Nicaragua.

HCD Connect Page:http://tinyurl.com/foodgardens


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Oe the past thee months, o team has engaged in the hman-

centeed design pocess, chaenging assmptions and attempting

to coect stoies to bette ndestand the pace of food secity andntition in the Nicaagan cte, and how schoo gadens mapped

onto those peceptions. Thogh HCD methods sch as Indiida

Inteiews, Gop Inteiews, Beginnes Mindset, and In-Contet

Immesion, we wee abe to gean a weath of infomation. Fthe-

moe, my Nicaagan design team has deeoped a new knowedge

of the HCD methods, which they hope to contine sing in fte

Fabetto initiaties. Foowing this eseach phase, we met again as

a team to synthesize o data, econstct peopes stoies, discss

essons eaned, and ways we can moe fowad into fte piot

pojects.

Afte mapping ot some key inteiews, we began to gop o

obseations by stakehode, so as to ndestand a the diffeent

pespecties and themes obseed. Oea not many paticipants,

especiay paents, knew ey mch abot food secity and nti-

tion. Schoo gadens, whie sccessf, do not fnction pefecty;

thei sccess depends on a aiety of factos, sch as the attitde

of stdents and paents, teache dedication, paent paticipation,

and good technica assistance.

O net step was to discss the idea of commnity gadens, as

both inteiews and team insights heped s ndestand that

impementing commnity gadens wod be etemey diffict. The

cta cimate of Nicaaga acks coectie sentiment becase

peope often do not tst each othe, patiay de to the nesoed

conficting poitica ideoogies fom the cii wa. My team indicated

that if we fond a commnity whee thee was confianza (tst)

and good commnication, pehaps a commnity gaden cod wok

O design team then bainstomed some net steps that emeged

fom o Hea pocess. Fist off, paents need to be moe integated

into the food secity and ntition effots that occ within schoos

Aso, the cte of ntition needs to be enhanced fo both paents

and stdents. Additionay, we began to think of ways in which we

cod make gadens moe sef and podctie, sch as tiizing

oganic fetiize, ecyced goods, o estabishing makets to ink

stdent podce to ae chains. Many teaches sggested that

this wod motiate the commnity to wok moe with the centschoo gadens.

We eae the Hea phase with some How Might We statements,

which eay get at the heat of a pototype towads which Fabetto

hopes to contine woking. How might we se schoo gadens to

edcate a commnities abot ntition? How might we incopo-

ate ntition pogams moe fy into schoos, eeaging poten-

tia patneships? How might we fthe engage paents in schoo

gaden and ntition effots? We ook fowad to contining the

HCD pocess to ceate pototypes and sotions to these chaenges

taKeaWaysFroM the

hcD ProcessThe HCD connect storytelling and

Microgrant process was particularlyrewarding as it allowed our team to make

connections and see the bigger picture.Our participants were able to identify thechallenges to food security and nutrition

SCHOOl FOOD GArDENS IN NICArAGuA

by Jeannette Rowland


7/18

7

increasingFarM ProDuce

Values

Nitin Sisodia, a Stanford trained bio designer, leads a teamusing human-centered design to identify new methods forincreasing crop productivity and processing effectiveness inrural India.

HCD Connect Page:http://tinyurl.com/farmproduce


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reaizing that the ea insight to pobems ies within the commnity,

we sed the HCD pocess to ense that the end ses seed as o

inspiation. We inteacted cosey with and engaged fames, theifamiies, poicy makes, tades, officias, and ban consmes.

Among o faoite HCD Hea methods, we sed In-contet Imme-

sion, Sacificia Concepts and Epet Inteiews to estabish a

connection with the faming commnity and gathe oca know-

edge. We went thogh the entie HCD Tookit with a oca fame

who is aso a pat of o team to hep s efine and se the toos in

a manne that is appopiate to the oca cte. Ding the Ceate

phase, Etacting Key Insights and Ceating Famewoks wee key

methods sed to identify oppotnities. Haing a mtidiscipinay

team heped s intepet the needs, synthesize potentia sotions,

and bing caity to many aspects of the poject.

Becase the maket pays sch a citica oe in deciding how

sstainabe the bsiness sotion might be, o mento sggested

that we get inpt fom oca tades, maketing pofessionas, and

the end consme. These conesations took o poject in a whoe

new diection, and heped s sceen o needs fo maket feasibiity.

O findings hae ed s to identify 56 needs and oppotnities in

a aiety of fieds fom seice and infastcte to awaeness and

esoce aaiabiity. We then pioitized these needs based on feasi-

biity in centa India, sstainabiity, impact, edcing wastage, and

inceasing ieihood.

One of the biggest chaenges that we hae identified ding the

HCD Micogant pocess is the potentia difficty of impementa-

tion, and theefoe we see that impementation of o sotions wi

need additiona esoces and epetise. We wi be ooking fo some

fnding sppot as we as taented and passionate peope to join o

team. To addess this chaenge, we ae seeking coaboation with

eseach instittes, goenment bodies, MP mino foest podce

coopeatie, coopeatie societies and NGOs which ae cosey

woking with fames.

When bainstoming fina sotions, we went fo qantity fist, aong

with maimm impact. We then eaated these fo hman, man-

facting, financia, and technoogica capabiities. On the whoe, it

has been a ewading epeience fo a of s and we ae aeadygetting set fo the net phase, whee we wi condct piots with the

pototypes of o sotion.

our

exPerienceWith hcDin central

inDiaThree months using the HCD process

brought us through the Hear andCreate phases to find 56 unique

insights. Alongside the biodesignprocess, we used HCD tools to make

observations, analyze stakeholderpriorities, find insights, and phrase

needs.

INCrEASING FArM PrODuCE vAluES

by Nitin Sisodia


9/18

9

getting ValueFroM Waste

This team from MIT used their HCD Connect Microgrant tofund their project in Kenya exploring new ways to createcharcoal briquettes from various types of agricultural waste.

HCD Connect Page: http://tinyurl.com/takachar


10/18

10

lessonsFroM the

FielDIn the past intense six weeks, the

months of Hear research and designprototyping finally came to fruition.

Our team moved to Kenya andimplemented the designs together

with our community partners.Throughout this experience, we

learned as much from our community

partners as from ourselves.

using the HCD methodoogy, we hae woked on aios aspects of

the chacoa pocess, anging fom effectie dying, to smoke scb-

bing, to optima biqetting. Indeed, thee ae many stoies to betod. I hae seected two stoies that istate the poignant points in

the design pocess.

The fist stoy eates to smoke scbbing. The need to edce smoke

ed s fom testing aios scbbes to a new kin design caed

TluD. Befoe we eft fo Kenya, we made se that we wee famiia

with a the ndeying theoies of TluD, and bit and tested some

sma-scae pototypes. Howee, a o pe-tip pepaation did not

actay pepae s a that mch. Once we tested pototypes in the

fied, o fist f scae modes and tias wee not sccessf and had

to be stopped pematey. Bt these tias taght s what impotant

changes needed to be made in the pocess. In fact, thee is a cetain

hythm and instinct abot the chacoa pocess that ony comes with

pacticing many times and eaning fom eos. This is something

that o commnity patnes and s eaned togethe sowy oe

time. In a sense, this discoey pocess is hman-centeed design

at its pime, in which we wee eaning as mch abot the TluD

pocess as o commnity patnes wee. utimatey, with a the

eaning, we wee abe to dasticay edce the cabonization time to

abot 20 mintes, fom the oigina 2 hos.

The second stoy is abot the design of a moe efficient biqette

pess. Whie this is something that o commnity patnes hae

aways epessed a need, befoe we came to Kenya, we had been

athe at a oss egading how best to appoach the design pocess.

In patica, o gt feeing tod s that thee ae so many diffeent

designs ot thee that o task was moe abot seaching and adapt

ing a pomising design, athe than abot tying to design something

fom scatch. With so many diffeent paametes to conside, we wee

often paayzed in the design pocess. Finay, it was a membe of

the oca commnity who fist came p with the design of a mana

ten-biqette pess. In this case, we wee meey the faciitatos of a

design pocess that oiginated fom within the commnity.

A in a, we ae pod to be abe to deeop a moda TluD design

that not ony damaticay edces the cabonization time, bt aso

inceases the waste-to-chacoa conesion efficiency. We demon-

stated the podcts at diffeent sb-ocations sonding the foestin Kenya, and now afte discssion with o commnity patnes,

thee ae definite pans to scae p this podction commeciay.

Theefoe, this hman-centeed co-design pocess with o comm-

nity patnes is jst the beginning of a joney, and we emain

ecited to see what deeopment may come ot of this ongoing

diaoge.

GETTING vAluE FrOM WASTE

by Kevin Kung


11/18

11

coMMunitycenters For

FarMers

After observing poor communication and informationexchange among farmers in the jungle region of eastern Peru,this team used their HCD Connect Microgrant to exploredesigns for new platforms connecting farmers in the region.

HCD Connect Page:http://tinyurl.com/centersforfarmers


12/18

12

Foowing the micogant peiod, we ae woking on the fist tia of

o egisty and patfom, SosSoce.com, de to go ie ate this

month. This initia phase wi focs on testing intemediay fnctions(i.e. tansation) as we as the types of infomation eqied by each

categoy of bye. In the net stage we wi eeage cowd-soced

esoces fo ogistics and esoce shaing by faciitating an onine

commnity. Whie o enegies ae focsed ey mch on the fte,

we wanted to biefy efect on o eanings ths fa.

With a desie fo maimm impact and an acknowedgement that

the system is highy intedependent, o initia tendency was to

think big. It is diffict to isoate and soe fo one component (be

it financing, capacity-biding, o tanspotation) in isoation. Fo

eampe, it is not hepf to find byes if thee ae no means of

getting the podct to maket. Yet, as o ndestanding of the

system deepened, we wee abe to edce the design chaenge

scope and theeby define a specific aea of impact to test.

What stated as a boad qestion has been fiteed down fom how

to ceate an economic deeopment sotion that incopoates eni-

onmenta sstainabiity to a naow design chaenge, how to facii-

tate connections between sma- and medim-sized podces and

sstainabe sppies. By connections we mean thee geneic steps

in initiating an engagement: 1) Finding a potentia tading patne,

2) leaning abot thei offeing and capabiities, and 3) Initiating

the conesation. O hypothesis is that byes seek diect tade

eationships to ense both qaity inpts AND socia and enion-

menta esponsibiity.

We noted in one of o fist posts on HCD Connect that designing

a sotion to addess a socia chaenge is distinct fom a ogistics o

engineeing pobem. undestanding the system eqies an nde-

standing of histoy, peceptions, incenties, and feas, as we as the

many objectie factos. Simiay, as the HCD Tookit apty notes,

the inteiew and obseation techniqes sed to gain that nde-

standing mst be as nanced as the sbjects and contet. Indeed,

sccess of the sotion is contingent pon the methodoogy and

cae sed to design it. In the pocess of inteiewing, diagamming,

and coaboating, we hae deeoped ich eationships with many

indiidas and commnities that wi timatey be infences and

stakehodes in the sotion.

In the coming weeks, we wi be shaing o sppy-socing

pototype with stakehodes and potentia ses. Thei eactions

wi diect whee we go net, aong the ines of the leaning loop

method otined in the HCD Tookit. Becase many of o ses ae

new (both in bying and seing), o stength ies in o abiity to

eeage o shaed esoces to soe these aied design cha-

enges. Moe than a seice o maketpace, we ae a commnity of

eanes, designes, and ceatos, wanting to se o niqe skis to

MoVingForWarD

Based upon what we learned duringthe HCD Microgrant cycle as well

as a year of research, analysis, andcollaborative brainstorming, our

service will address the needs ofsmall-scale buyers and suppliers for

assistance in connecting, learning,and coordinating.

COMMuNITY CENTErS FOr FArMErS

by Nancy Zamierowskiand Michael Kuntz


13/18

13

the PePPershreDDer

The Pepper Eater team used their HCD Connect Micrograntin Ethiopia to perform user testing for their device, whichefficiently and cost-effectively processes peppers.

HCD Connect Page: http://tinyurl.com/peppershredder


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Poject eade roge Wison etned fom his si-week tip to Ethi-

opia with penty of insights and new connections. One esonding

positie est has been that the pototypes hae eceeded one ofthe pojects oigina goas of impoing the heath and comfot of

ses. unike mana pocessing, the shedde does not podce

iitating peppe powde that cod escape into the enionment.

Conseqenty, the opeato is eposed to a ey sma amont of the

bebee effect (the negatie heath conseqences esting fom

epose to the hot peppe ois and dst) compaed to the discom-

fot associated with een waking thogh the bebee aea of oca

makets.

We fee cky to hae connected with two fantastic manfacting

patnes, Seam Awassa Bsiness Gop (SABG) and Seam Chidens

viage. Aong with inpt fom ses in the fied, the eationship with

these oganizations aows te Paticipatoy Co-Design dien by

oganizations that hae in-depth knowedge of oca makets. Fo

eampe, we wee concened abot finding a sppie of main bea-

ings fo the peppe shedde; the genea manage of SABG knew

that the pe-assembed beaing nits on o uS-bit pototypes

wod be pohibitiey epensie. It is fa cheape to impot beaing

components sepaatey and assembe them in Ethiopia. This type of

knowedge of oca makets and impoting ogistics cod est in an

estimated 50% cost edction fo a shedde made in Ethiopia athe

than in the uS, een withot incding saings on impot dties.

SABG wi aso be woking on a design fo the inpt hoppe on the

top of the deice to dea with a pobem that roge enconteed:

the nit sheds peppe so fast that one peson is continay bsy

fiing the hoppe of the machine, and thee is too mch spiage! A

highe-ome hoppe wi aow fo easie opeation fo a singe se

and impoe the safety of the deice by poiding a age baie

between the ses finges and the ctting disks.

With anothe leaning loop behind s, wee ooking fowad to

the net steps in the Deie phase of the poject. lanching a

piot podction n with SABG wi pace the peppe shedde with

eteme and mainsteam ses in the faming commnities aond

Awassa. longe-tem monitoing ding the piot wi gie insights

into qestions that cod not be answeed with shot-tem se

testing. One concen is that a highy efficient too ike the peppeshedde wi dispt oca makets and hae nintended commnity

impacts. If an entepene o gop with a peppe shedde can

pocess as many peppes as eight women who peiosy sed a

mota and peste, what is the net effect on the commnity? Fthe-

moe, ding iage testing, men wee attacted to this new tech-

noogy and feqenty onteeed to cank the deice. With wide-

spead aaiabiity of the shedde, wi men begin to take oe this

taditionay womens-ony occpation? rega isits fom Seams

fied wokes ding the piot wi poide seicing fo the deices

countingDoWn

to PilotProDuction

We successfully closed anotherLearning Loop through user

testing, where the peppershredder prototypes were received

enthusiastically by users andperformed well during field testing.

Now, we prepare for pilot productionwith new manufacturing partners.

THE PEPPEr SHrEDDEr

by Scott Sadlon


15/18

15

MicroloansFor FarMers

This team used their HCD Connect Microgrant to conducthuman-centered design research in Uganda with farmers andother community stakeholders to better understand how theymight best structure an agricultural-specific micro lendingprogram.

HCD Connect Page: http://tinyurl.com/microloansforfarmers


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using the HCD methodoogy has poen to be inaabe towads

eseaching potentia oan pogam stctes. A fina podct is ony

as good as its sabiity, and an amazing sotion means nothing if itis not feasibe o we-sited to the peope it is intending to hep, as it

wi not be we-adopted. I am ecited at the pospect of contining

to se the HCD Tookit to hep this poject moe fowad into the

Ceate and Deie phases.

Among the most impotant methods sed, we eied heaiy on

Gop Inteiews, Commnity-Dien Discoey, Epet Inteiews,

and Sacificia Concepts. Gop inteiewing not ony gae s feed-

back abot desiabiity and feasibiity, bt aso spaked new inno-

atie ideas. Commnity-dien discoey was ccia in that the

commnity knows the pobem the best and can highight what so-

tions hae been tied and what does and does not wok. leaning

fom oganizations that hae tacked simia pobems was ccia

in pinpointing what needed to be addessed. We fond that thee

is a fine baance between taking the wod and adice of the epets

and appying it to yo own commnity to fit thei needs and wants

(each commnity is diffeent!). What was most hepf abot epet

inteiews wee compaing and integating them with the feedback

we got fom gop inteiews. Sacificia concepts poed inced-

iby sef to get moe concete, measabe (and theefoe moe

seabe) answes fom commnity membes. Befoe deeoping

qestions as hypothetica modes, potentia oan paticipants had

difficty compaing the impotance of cetain pogam aspects.

What I fond to be a wondef seconday effect of the HCD pocess

was commnity empowement. Making the commnity pat of the

pocess and an incsie pat of the decision making, empowes

them and gies them a geate sense of owneship in the pogam

itsef. Haing the commnity inoed means thee wi be a highe

ikeihood of adopting the pogam and keeping it nning ong afte

Im gone.

Fthemoe, the HCD Connect and micogant pocess poed

hepf in getting good big picte feedback. Afte a engthy time

being so fy engossed in detai, its incediby had to step back

and see age thematic components that cod be addessed in a

way diffeent fom how yoe been going abot it. Haing the HCD

Connect commnity thee to point things ot and ask constctieqestions foces yo to think abot diections o pobems beyond

what yoe been addessing.

Some Ceate steps and pototype testing hae aeady begn. In addi-

tion to bainstoming poject specifics with the potentia oan pogam

staff of urCSF, we addessed some age scae thematic qestions

based on o gop, indiida, and epet feedback. Oea, Im

ecited to moe fowad integating a of o Hea feedback and

ideas into pototypes of oan stcte ageements, schedes, and

additiona, innoatie seices in the pcoming months!

reFlectionson the hear

PhaseLooking back at the progress made

during the past several months, Icannot imagine doing this project

without human-centered design. Byhaving such an increased level of

concentration on the community thatwe are designing for, I believe that

our research was better focused

to create a successful and long-standing solution.

MICrOlOANS FOr FArMErS

by Jacqui Wattsby Jacqui Watts


17/18

17

M-FarM:text Messages

For FarMers

The M-Farm Team has developed a mobile pricing platform forrural farmers in Kenya and used their HCD Connect Micrograntto fund human-centered design research allowing them tobetter understand how they might attract additional buyers totheir mobile platform.

HCD Connect Page: http://tinyurl.com/mfarmkenya


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leaning qicky that inteiews with byes wod not be easy, we

ooked to o net taget gop, middemen (aka bokes). O indi-

ida inteiews toched pon how they tade, thei geatest cha-enges, and what thei epeience with technoogy is ike.

O pan is to wok with bokes to incease the tanspaency of the

agibsiness ae chain so as to ceate diect makets fo fames.

To get the best and most adeqate feedback, wee woked with

bokes fom many diffeent egions in Kenya.

Inteestingy enogh, what o hman-centeed design Hea

eseach ncoeed was that technoogies diffeed between

middemen and byes. The most widey sed technoogies fo the

middemen wee adio whie the byes tended to pefe emai.

Phone cas wee cited by both. Fo M-Fam, this means that the

toos deeoped fo middemen and byes shod pobaby be

cstomized to accont fo the diffeence in technoogy sage

pattens.

This poject contined to focs on mobie phones de to monetay

tansaction conenience. Some of the middemen had sed M-Pesa

and enjoyed it becase it was step-by-step and met an immediate

need fo them - cash on hand.

One of the majo chaenges cited by middemen was tst. As they

say do not hae fomaized ageements with fames fom whom

they ae socing, an ongoing pobem is that they often go to a fam

and find that the podce they wee epecting to find had aeady

been sod to anothe. Most middemen stated that the fames hae

an estabished eationship with cetain middemen whom they tst

to pay them, an nwitten ndestanding. Anothe middeman

epained that in ode to make se he ffis his pomise to the

fames who tst him, he wi een take ot a oan to pay them back

fo thei podce within the stated timefame.

Based on o eseach, it appeas that the middemen ae a moe

nifom gop with simia needs and chaenges. Since M-Fam has

been woking sccessfy on an agency mode fo a whie now, o

net step in scaing is to ceate awaeness amongst peope in the

ae chain, ike these middemen, so that they can hae a foma-

ized eationship with fames. This wi eqie s to efine o modeaccodingy. O aim is that the moe the agents se the M-Fam pat-

fom, the moe we sha incease tanspaency fo both the fames

and the byes in ode to meet thei niqe and specific needs.

MiDDleManaFFair

When we started our IDEO.org fundedhuman-centered design research, ouraim was to better understand how toconvert the M-Farm Selling Togethermodel from a manual process to an

automatic one, with a focus on buyers asusers of the M-Farm platform.

M-FArM: TExT MESSAGES FOr FArMErS

by Linda Kwamboka

HCD Connect Reflection Stories

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