Living on a farm has been described by many people as the best experience one may have. Some say it is cheap and healthy, while others claim that people brought up on farms have good family values. Yet, people like comparing farm life vs. city life. Some believe living in the city is much better due to the particular lifestyle. Their claims are based on the numerous opportunities people have in the city compared to those who live on the farms.
The main purpose of this persuasive essay is to contrast life on the farm to life in the city. By looking at rural and urban lifestyles, this paper will compare farms to cities to decide whether one option is better than the other. First, the essay looks at the similarities between them. Then, it reviews the difference between city life and country life. It concludes that the choice of residence depends on individual preferences.
Living on a farm has been described by many people as the best experience one may have. Some say it is cheap and healthy, while others claim that people brought up on farms have good family values. On the contrary, there are people who believe that living in the city is much better due to the particular life style.
Their claims are based on the numerous opportunities people have in the city compared to those who live on the farms. The main purpose of this paper is to check the differences and the similarities of two considered places and the effect those places have on society.
Similarities Between City Life and Country Life
The similarities between living in the city and living on a farm have been increasing over the years. Such amenities as gas and piped water are usually absent on farms. Moreover, such basic services as top quality healthcare and education with the use of innovative technologies may be absent as well. However, the government has been very instrumental in raising the standards of living in the countryside and presently you will find that just like in the city there is good road infrastructure, health care facilities, and education centers.
Another similarity between life on a farm and life in the city is the economic situation in both places is affected equally. The price of essential commodities, such as gasoline does not differ greatly. Financial turmoil at the international level influences both a farm and a city.
Country Life vs City Life: Compare/Contrast
There are many differences between living on a farm and in the city. It is widely known that a place one grows in has a great impact on the way a person perceives life. Behavior is affected, as well. Family is considered as the central institution for many people. The family is always near, and they are the only people one can turn to when things go wrong. A major difference is seen between family values imposed on a person growing up in the city and those applied on a person growing up on the farm.
Almost all young people on the farms live with their families, and they are actively involved in the daily running of the farm. This helps create a strong bond between the family members, which is much needed in creating a strong society. In the city, life is busy, and there is little time to spare for family activities and socialization. Most people in the city are career-oriented. They tend to put more time advancing their careers and neglecting their families.
This can be seen clearly in the way old people are treated in the city. Old members of the family are cared deeply by their families on the farms, while one can find people sending their old members of the family into special homes for the aged in the cities. Such cases are less common on the farms.
Another difference between living on a farm and in the city lies in the way people prioritize their needs and wants. Those who live on farms usually prioritize their needs to their wants. Everything is different from those who live in the cities as they can regard their needs and wants in the same way.
People living on farms have a simple lifestyle and unlike their city flamboyant lifestyle peers. This lifestyle helps people on the farms satisfy their needs. People living in the city are known for their I need to get it attitude which makes them indulging and buying the heavily advertised products and services.
Living on a farm can be described as a serene and healthy way of living. It is on a farm you will enjoy most of the beautiful sceneries, fresh air, animals, and fresh foods. Those who live on farms have an opportunity to enjoy eating fresh food, unlike those who prefer cities where most people live on canned food with chemicals which are harmful to human health.
The air in the farms is fresh, and there are few cases of lungs disease or breathing complications reported. In the city, the air is stale and full of smoke, dust, as well as harmful substances. In the farm, you will enjoy seeing animals in their ordinary inhabitance, unlike the city where you will only find them in zoos. The only wild animals one can probably find in the city are rodents and raccoons.
The city offers a person many opportunities that cannot be found in the farms. A person can decide to follow a more rewarding career and enjoy the fine things in life, entertain in clubs, go shopping, etc. Such things cannot be found on the farms.
Farm vs City: Conclusion
Each place has its advantages and disadvantages. It is impossible to say that one place is better than another one. It is better to state that one place is more preferable for a particular person than another one. Tastes differ, and people should remember it while dwelling upon differences is living either on a farm or in a city.
As population of the world is rapidly growing, the issue of hunger is as relevant as ever. Although technology provides unique opportunities for most individuals, each ninth person in the world experiences hunger or lack of clear water. These facts concern scientists who want to optimize agriculture that to be as efficient as possible. In Netherland, scientists created a smart greenhouse that uses state-of-the-art technologies to grow the maximum number of crops, fruits, and vegetables by using the minimum resources such as water and fertilizers. Other types of urban farming include systems that are integrated into interior design. Such farms include backyard gardens, tactical gardens, green walls and vertical gardens. Other classification includes systems that are integrated into exterior of a city. For example, roof gardens, forest gardens or street landscaping. Such techniques allow farmers to grow crops in places that are incorporated into urban design.
Agriculture and livestock are some of the most resource-demanding industries that involve numerous environmental factors. The main ecological issues include water shortage, soil exhaustion, and greenhouse gas emission. For example, excessive use of chemical fertilizers in traditional agriculture will cause soil fertility decline and eutrophication of water bodies. Similarly, the use of excessive pesticides in traditional agriculture will lead to water pollution and the reduction of biodiversity caused by animal and plant death. Organic farming systems generally offer lower yields in comparison to conventional agricultural practices.
The specialists that work on the development of the smart greenhouse are striving to achieve a fully autonomous greenhouse. In it, the perfect conditions for the growth of crops will be created in any place and climate of the world. In addition, the systems in the smart greenhouse can be managed remotely as they involve technologies such as artificial intelligence that helps with data analysis. Therefore, such technological advancements bring hope for the resolution of world hunger for future generations.
Reference
DW Shift. (2021). Smart City: How Can We Feed 10 Billion People? | Future Smart City Projects | Urban Farming [Video]. YouTube. Web.
The use of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers for crop production is called conventional farming. Farmers use convectional farming system to grow large quantity crops such as rice, grains, and genetically modified crops. Hydroponic farming utilizes chemicals and liquid fertilizers to facilitate plant growth. While consumers prefer hydroponic vegetables and fruits, food scarcity remains an agricultural problem. Conventional farming utilizes pesticides and other land requirements to facilitate crop yield.
However, pest and plant diseases continue to plague conventional farming. The choice of farming system is affected by harvest, taste, and health status. Thus, harvest yields, seasonality, control, cost, and maintenance influences consumer demand (Baker & Ako, 2009). Hydroponic farming is very expensive (Bright Farms Inc., 2013).
The inputs required to produce a hectare of crop conventionally may be doubled for hydroponic farming. A major advantage of hydroponic farming involves plant isolation from land requirements (Circle A Farms, 2013). While health nutritionists debate the effects and benefits of the two farming systems, we will analyze their benefits based on agricultural yield.
Analysis
The comparison between conventional and hydroponic farming was carried out using an observed harvest results. The instruments for the analysis were scored based on crop yield. I used the prospective hindsight bias to determine a suitable farming system. I also introduced scenario planning to decide harvest types and the market target.
The instruments for coding the examination include farming requirements, types of harvest and consumption rate. Each variable will be categorized using different parameters. We will subdivide land requirements into five parameters, which include space, access to supply, controls, maintenance, and season. Conventional farming requires a large land for cultivation. Thus, the quantity of the harvest is directly proportional to the space provided (Coolong, 2012). Hydroponic farming does not require a large space.
A farmer can produce large quantities of tomatoes using a little space. From the analysis, we scored conventional and hydroponic farming in a ratio of 3:9. Using access to supplies as a parameter, conventional farming is more accessible than hydroponic farming. We scored the access to supply in a ratio of 9:15.
Conventional farming requires large land treatment than hydroponic farming. Disease contamination is lower with hydroponic farming than conventional farming Modern Farmer Media, 2013). Farmers can control the spread of insects and diseases in a hydroponic farm than an open conventional farm (Crop King Inc., 2013). Thus, we scored convectional farming and hydroponic farming in a ratio of 9:17. However, hydroponic farming is very expensive and difficult to maintain.
The cost of pesticides and fertilizers using in a convectional farm is less than its equivalent in a hydroponic farm. The presence of soil nutrients in a conventional farm reduces fertilizer inputs as required on a hydroponic farm. Hydroponic farming has no particular season. It is a major advantage of the farming system (Garden guides, 2013). Unlike conventional farming which is affected by seasons, hydroponic farming can be done yearly. Thus, we scored convectional and hydroponic farming in a ratio of10:30.
We used harvest types as the second instrument for the analysis. We compared the demand, packaging, and ease of harvest of four crops. The crops include lettuce, herb, tomatoes, and strawberry. From the analysis, the demand for herbs and lettuce using hydroponic farming was higher than the demand for tomatoes and strawberries (Gopalakrishnan, 2007). Consequently, the ease of packaging and harvesting herbs was higher in hydroponic farming than convectional farming.
Using the third instrument for the analysis, conventional farming is characterized by price sensitivity, seasonality of produce, small purchases, varied market prices, and uneducated suppliers (Seasons in the Sun Farm, 2013). Hydroponic farming is characterized by large purchases, large market, consistency, high demand, crop availability, and educated farmers (Green Spirit Farms, 2013).
Research summary
The research analysis was carried out between conventional and hydroponic farming. Our observations and findings will help farmers decide on which farming system to use. Three instruments were used in the experiment. We categorized the instruments using different parameters. We scored the instruments based on the results obtained. Thus, the research results will facilitate our recommendations.
Conclusion
I will recommend hydroponic farming because of its benefits. Although it is cost efficient, it improves the health status of consumers. Hydroponic farming involves the isolation of plant from soil, pest, and diseases.
Thus, farmers will not be affected by the spread of resistant pest and diseases. The cost of harvesting, treating, and preserving crops from a conventional farm equals the cost of establishing a hydroponic farm. Thus, I strongly recommend the use of hydroponic farming. The seasonality of fruits, herbs, and vegetables can be eliminated using hydroponic farming.
The United States of America can be described remotely as the land of plenty of food. The amount of foodstuff in the United States has been on the increase as food producers have been increasing. The main food problem in the States now is not its shortage, but its availability in different forms, ranging from fast-foods to normal foods prepared in families. The majority of American people, if not all, are using fast foods which have consequently led to rising levels of food-related complications. Currently, it has been estimated that four out of ten American citizens will be suffering from obesity within five years if measures are not taken to reduce the number of fast-food consumptions in the nation. Roughly over 30% of the American citizens are suffering from obesity. This percentage is said to be on the increase thereby increasing the risk of heart diseases, chances of developing obesity, diabetes and also some form of cancer.
This research paper is concerned with finding out about the States food system and how immigrant farmers contribute to the food situation in current American society. It has been discovered that overwhelming number of American citizens are having health complications related to food and eating habits. The hypothesis for this discussion is taken to be the current American food situation is influenced by immigrant farmers. The immigrant farmers came from Latin America, Asia, Europe and Africa; the immigrants came to America with their farming culture and variety of food crops that have added to the already existing food types in the United States of America.
Food and immigrant Farmers
As much as food is plentiful in the United States, it has caused lots of health challenges to the American people. One of the most affected communities is Latino community in which a good portion of the population suffers from obesity and diabetes. It seems that this is one of the communities in which consumptions of industrially manufactured food products are higher than fresh organic foods.
It has been argued that the food industry has zealously persuaded people to consume their industrially manufactured food. According to the available literature, the food manufacturing companies are mainly concerned with increasing the share value of stockholders (Medeiros-Neto et al 1). The influx of the food manufacturing industry is due to the affluence of the American people who can afford to buy industrial fast food to avoid inconvenience; the food manufacturers have therefore embarked on tight competition through doing lots of advertisements and customer relations. The authors also indicate that the food companies lobby with the government and the nutritionists to endorse their food products as health-promoting. According to them, this scenario represents the use of politics in the food manufacturing industries (pp.12-15). Issue related to health has, elaborately, been in which it is stated that promotion of health to the highest status possible is very crucial, the diets must achieve balance, but a balanced diet must be able to provide sufficient energy in the form of calories, necessary vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that are essential in preventing deficiencies and also those that support metabolism. Moreover, various nutritionists have agreed that the diet must exclude excessive amounts of nutrient contents that can lead to chronic diseases. Fortunately, the most favorable range of intake of most dietary components is quite wide. It is apparent that people throughout the world eat many varied foodstuffs and follow lots of different dietary patterns, many of which aid the promotion of excellent health and long life. In addition, they say that the dietary patterns that most excellently promote quality health obtain most energy from plant foods and considerably less from animal products. Evidence shows that many American citizens consume more calories than they burn off beside the fact that many of these people also eat too much food, some of which are rich in fats (pp.16-21).
The food industry of the United States of America is remarkably successful result of the 20th-century trends that have led to the growth of small firms to giant corporations and also from a society that prepared its food at home to the one that purchases almost half of its meals that is prepared elsewhere. The society has changed from obtaining its foods from the gardens to getting them from elsewhere when the foods are already transformed in some ways and transported over a long distance. These transformations have created a firming system that is much less labor-intensive and far much more effective, efficient and specialized. Comparison has been made between those who lived on their farms by 1900 and those that live on farms now. In this case, it is indicated that by 1900, forty percent of the American population lived on firms while now the percentage has dropped to less than two percent. This clearly indicates that the manufactured food products are becoming the dominant meals for the American people which are also indicative of the reasons for the increasing food-related health deterioration amongst American people. In other words, the amount of available food in America is more than the Americans can consume (pp. 20-26).
The American food industry has only succeeded in supplying junk foods into the market. Majority of the Americans who consume junk foods have always become oblivious of the dangers that the junk foods pose. The fact is that junk foods are low in terms of nutritional contents and high rich in calories. Junk food is everywhere within the American nation and this is due to thorough campaigns by the food manufacturers who compete for the customers in the market. Some of these foods are preserved with chemicals so that they can be transported over long distances to other parts of the country. The raw materials used in the manufacture of the industrial foods are grown using fertilizers and other chemicals that make them grow fast. It is important to note that many a time, the food industry targets children and young people with junk foods supplied in the market. The advertisers tap into childrens play in doing their adverts and children flavors are almost twice sweeter than those meant for adults. To cash in the thriving food industry and owners in the United States of America use the immigrant farmers to work on their farms.
In an online article, the author also talks about the facts of junk food products. He points out the effects of unhealthy food on the health of individuals. The author argues that the awareness of the negative effects of junk food on health is rising and that people are turning away from junk food products and embracing the consumption of healthy dietary food products. However, the author contends that there are still a good number of people, especially children, who still consume junk food products in large quantities; junk foods are ready alternatives to home-prepared food. The junk foods are instantly available and can be consumed by individuals at the point of purchase. The authors of this article describe junk foods as containing little nutrients and having high contents of dangerous ingredients. In this article, the author comes up with different facts about the consumption of junk foodstuff; junk foods contain a lot of sugar contents. The author argues that just a single cola can contain sugar contents of up to ten teaspoonfuls. He the article therefore, advises the consumers of cola to be very careful while consuming cola (para3). Moreover, the article points out that amongst the health problems associated with junk foods are tooth decay, obesity, high blood pressure, cancer and too much sugar in the body that may bring about other health complications (Buzzle para1-4).
One of the biggest concerns is concerned that the most affected people, when it comes to consumption of junk foods, are the children who are described to be more prone to advertisement gimmicks. Children like sweet things, therefore, the sweeter the junk products the more attractive they are to children. Fast foods are easy to eat and are convenient besides being cheaper than the natural organic food products. The author implies that instead of letting the children concentrate on consuming fast food, responsible parents should teach their children to consume natural organic food products which are healthy and full of necessary nutrients required in the body. This should also be followed by any other person who is overconsuming junk foods. The over-consumption of junk foods is a direct result of people having less time to spare in order to prepare meals at home.
Many pieces of advice have been advanced by many organizations and individuals that for people to live healthily, they should shy away from junk foodstuff. It is true to mention that, if care is not taken, many Americans will lose their lives through preventable causes. Taking for instance, the excessive amount of sugar that is found in junk foods has the possibility of causing the insulin levels to remain higher than necessary which leads to occurrence of metabolic complications. Even though many people are shying away from the junk foods, food manufacturers are responsible for the increasing numbers of junk food consumers; this they do by their aggressive marketing of such food products. The companies do their advertisements in very attractive ways to attract as many consumers as possible; however, these companies have not taken the initiative of sensitizing the public about the danger of overconsumption of junk foods. Scientific findings indicate that the too much fat found in the junk food stimulates the brain to demand more food supply and the effects of such fats in the unhealthy foods on the brain are long-term. The increasing number of food outlets in the United States of America is an indication of high and increasing demand for ready-made foodstuff. Even though there is a need for fresh organic foodstuff for healthy living in the United States, it is unfortunate that most fresh food products are commercial oriented and only few are consumed fresh. Moreover, community farmers are few and their products cannot satisfy the whole American population.
Minnesota Food Association is nonprofit organization that is concerned with healthy living of all the United States of American people. The organization runs the Big River Farms which is a group of communities consisting of new immigrant farmers being trained. The organization leases land to be used in fresh produces which makes great contributions to the agricultural activities and initiatives supported by the group of immigrant farmers. The literature by the organization (Para 2) indicates that some of the immigrant farmers grew up in a farming environment and therefore are experienced in farming and agriculture. With reference to this literature, immigrant farmers have been expanding their agricultural activities with a view of supplying the whole nation with fresh produce. The organization has been encouraging the growth of natural organic foods through workshops, conferences and training. Minnesota Food Association recognizes that the food system in the United States of America has become dysfunctional and the natural organic healthy foods are being replaced by the processed junk foods (Para 4). The organization also realizes that the unnecessary consumption of junk food has some negative effects on human health. It records that, on an annual basis, thousands of immigrants come into the United States of America from agrarian societies and those immigrants settle to develop their farming activities with a view of sustaining their communities and also contributing to the local economies.
The Minnesota Food Association engages in the training of immigrant farmers on how to best produce fresh foods. This is a clear indication that the immigrant farmers play a major role in supplying the American citizens with an alternative to the most common junk food products. The implication of this is that the problem of junk food consumption is becoming a disaster in the United States of America and therefore the need for serious interventions. Some other organizations and individuals are campaigning for the American people to consume less and fewer junk foods and instead substitute them with fresh and healthy foodstuff obtained directly from farmers. The organization gives an insight into the fact that many American citizens have become sensitized to the need to stop others from over-consuming industrially manufactured food products.
It is important to note that the promotion of healthy foods has been made most possible by the participation of immigrant farmers who emigrate from agrarian societies. The immigrants are natural farmers and would, therefore, like to continue with the agricultural activities. As the American society advances, it gets farther away from agricultural activities. If this does not concern the government, then the entire United States of American population will, shortly, be a hundred percent consumers of industrially processed junk foods. However, with the immigrant farmers, there is still hope that direct production of food from the farms is still possible. Most of the pieces of land used by the immigrant farmers are owned by Americans and the Americans lease the pieces of land to the immigrant farmers for farming purposes. The immigrants and the few American farmers have managed to develop the farming activities in commercial status so that the food market also contains foodstuff that is directly harvested from the farms and sold directly to consumers. The immigrant farmers are therefore, one of the greatest sources of hope for healthy food production in the United States of America. Nonetheless, the success of campaigns against the over-consumption of junk or industrial foodstuff greatly depends on the cooperation of the government; the government should have funds set aside for sensitization process on the health implications of consuming lots of junk foodstuff. A major setback to this program, is that many of the trained immigrant farmers end up working in the white-owned farms where they are underpaid despite working long hours. The government has not put any measures in place to ensure that their working conditions are conducive.
The author creates awareness about the consumption of junk food. The author is more concerned with convincing people to switch their focus from junk food consumption to consumption of foodstuff that promotes health. He argues that the more one buys junk foods the more the family members consume the junk foods and the more their health becomes at risk. The author advises individuals to be careful not to be swayed by the attractive adverts placed by the food processing companies (p.81). The author also takes the initiative to convince people to consume fruits and natural vegetables and at the same time should reduce the amount of junk food intake. The author offers an insight on how an individual can stay healthy and avoid the possibility of being a victim of diet-related diseases or disorders (pp.82-90). He further advises that junk food should only be eaten as a light entertainment and should not be taken as the main dish or part of the meals on a daily basis.
According to the literature, the author is taking into consideration the cognitive involvement in the consumption of junk food. He argues that the advertisers always appeal to the cognition of their potential customers. The adverts influence the consumers to think they are hungry and therefore need fast food to take care of their hunger. The adverts convince the buyers that they are not complete without the junk foods on offer. In short, the author majors his argument on psychological influence that makes people consume more and more junk foodstuff despite the knowledge of the possible health hazards such foods have. He states that an individual becomes what he or she thinks about himself or herself hence, if one believes junk foods are good for him or her then she or he has to contend with the consequence of consuming such foods (p.91).
The urge to consume junk foods indeed emanates from the cognitive system. The consumption of junk food can be compared to smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol. Cigarette smoking is addictive and those who smoke it are aware of its potential dangers yet they still smoke it anyway. The same principle applies to consumption of junk foods. Those who consume this type of food find it very convenient and cheap and would rather spend less to get them rather than spending time and money to prepare meals at home. It is then important to start dealing with over-reliance on junk food by changing ones perception of the industrial food products. Individuals should stop associating industrially manufactured food products with convenience and cheapness but link them to potential health hazards they can cause. Instead, it will be important for American citizens to associate foodstuff obtained directly from the farms with healthy lives and their ability to reduce the risk of contracting diseases like heart attacks due to too many fats in the body system, becoming obese due to too much food, stomach disorders and increased blood sugar level which comes about due to inability of insulin to regulate the amount of sugar in the entire body system. This is where the community farmers need to be taken into account; they are important when it comes to healthy food products. The government can play a big role in sensitizing the American citizens on the importance of community farming by encouraging them to own their own small family farms or purchase their foodstuff from other community farmers. This will reduce the health complications associated with junk foodstuff (Ong, p. 167).
Case study: Mexican Farmers
To find out how the connection between farmers and the food industry in the United States; we confuted a case study in which the main focus was the Mexican farmers. They are located in Watsonville, CA and the family interviewed lives in a camp provided by the government. The family members work on a farm where it picks strawberries but get only 1.7 dollars for every ten pounds of strawberries they pick. The camp is only open to them during the period when agricultural activities are going on. This period falls between the months of April and October. This scenario presents their children with schooling problems since during the camp closure they have to be shifted back to Mexico where academic programs and curricular are not similar to those of the United States. The results of these are difficulty in catching up, poor performance and lack of proper settlement at school.
The family members are amongst the farmers who contribute to the food industry; however, their living condition is very poor and neglected. They use a lot of fertilizers and chemicals in that farm; these chemicals contaminate the water they use and also have itching effects on their hands. Besides, they live in a dumpy region that is not good for average inhabitants. The chemicals they use put them at the risk of suffering from heart-related diseases and infections in their respiratory tracks which subsequently drive the cost of their medical high and unaffordable. This scenario is representative of other immigrant farmers in the United States of America.
Conclusion
It is important to note that the fast-food industry in the United States of America is thriving due to the commercialization of agricultural activities. Many landowners have employed immigrant farmers on their farms to help produce for the growing food industry. Some of the landowners lease their land to immigrant farmers and charge them relatively highly. The immigrant farmers have never enjoyed better working conditions even though they contribute to the food industry.
Community workers and immigrant farmers are the main sources of the raw materials used in the food industry. This can be attributed to the fact that selling fresh farm produces directly to the food industry seems to have more returns than when sold directly to consumers. There is a great link between industrial food and the community and immigrant farmers. This implies that they are greatly interdependent.
Works Cited
Buzzle. Intelligent Life on the Web. Junk Food Facts. 2010.
Medeiros-Neto, Geraldo. Progress in obesity research: 9. Volume 9 of Progress in obesity research. John Libbey Eurotext, 2003.
Minnesota Food Association. A US registered nonprofit. Razoo, 2010.
Ong, Alex. Mind Your Own Wellness. New York: OCL Publishing, Inc., 2008.
Advanced Project Management: Greater Gabbard Wind Farm Mega Project
Management Approach of GGOWL Mega Project
Greater Gabbard Wind Farm Mega Project is a massive project that sought to make massive contribution into the energy sector. The management approach taken in this project would dictate its success or failure. As shown in the case study, this mega project took the form of project management in its management approach.
According to Harvey (2005, p. 56), it is always important to understand the needs of a project, and its magnitude before choosing on the appropriate management strategy to be used. This scholar says that relatively small projects with small budget expected to take short duration of one year or less should always take project management approach.
This is because they are less involving. However, mega projects that are very involving and needs a lot of money and longer time to complete may need to take the form of portfolio or projects approach in its management style. Managing mega projects as a portfolio helps in ensuring that each of the major tasks is assigned to the most qualified contractor in order to achieve the best results. The contracted firms would work closely to ensure that the overall objectives of the project are achieved successfully.
Greater Gabbard Wind Farm Mega Project was managed as a project, and this may explain why it was assigned to one contractor, Fluor. Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) and RWE Innology, as the owners of this mega project, considered to contract only one firm to undertake the entire project. This means that the management did not consider developing a portfolio of programs and projects out of this mega project.
It is true that SEE contracted Siemens for the turbines to be used in the project. However, it would be wrong to assume that this move would be considered as an effort to create portfolios or programs in this project. Flour does not have ability to develop turbines, and it was a fact that at some point they would have sourced for them from other companies. What SEE did was just to help them get these materials without having to struggle in getting them. All other activities in this project were assigned to this single contractor.
This management approach could be the major reason for the challenges that this project faced in its implementation process. It is a fact that Flour is one of the pioneers, and therefore, it had the vision of the project. It understood very well how the project was supposed to be implemented in order to achieve the desirable results.
This could be the reason why the owners decided to award the entire project to it. However, it would be important to appreciate the fact that this was a mega project that had never been witnessed in this country. The United Kingdom had never developed such a mega wind energy plant before, and this means that the stakes were very high. The owners made a wrong decision of assigning all the tasks in the project to a single contractor.
The best approach should have been to create a number of programs in this mega project, and assign each program to different contractors based on their qualifications. This would have helped in shortening the time for completion of the project. The strategy would have also helped in ensuring that each of the tasks is completed in a more professional manner.
Approach to Stakeholder Management
Mega projects such as Greater Gabbard Wind Farm Mega Project always involve various stakeholders. According to Hamilton (2004, p. 46), it is always important to determine all the stakeholders involved in a given project with the view of understanding their interests in the project.
This scholar further says that some stakeholders may have enough powers to influence a project positively or negatively. For this reason, the management unit of a project must know these players and then devise the most appropriate approach that can be used to take care of their interests. Engaging the relevant stakeholders in a given project is a major step towards achieving success in the project. The model below shows stages that should be taken in stakeholder engagement process.
Stages in stakeholder engagement process
Source (Schwalbe, 2005, p. 77)
As shown above, the first step is to identify the stakeholders. This involves identifying people who will be affected by the project, experts who can be of use in the project, and forces that may affect success of the project. The next step would be to understand their needs. The project management unit must understand the needs of all the stakeholders identified in the first stage, and how these needs are aligned to the needs of the project.
The third stage involves managing the stakeholders’ needs and expectations. There are cases where some of the needs of the stakeholders are not in line with the project objectives. In such cases, it may be necessary to manage these needs and convince them to settle for less in order to make the project successful. The last stage would be to check for the needed changes. This may occur when regulatory authorities consider some of the strategies the project considers to take as inappropriate.
In such cases, it would force the project management team to make necessary changes in the project to be in line with some specific policies. GGOWL Mega Project did make an effort to follow this model in an effort to manage stakeholders’ needs and expectations. Some of the major external stakeholders identified in this project included Greenpeace Friends of the Earth, National Federation of Fishermen’s Organization, Tourism Board, and Marine Flora and Fauna.
Other stakeholders included Royal Yachting Association, Natural England, and Port Authorities. These stakeholders have varying interests and influence this project to varying degrees. The project management has clearly documented their interests and the degree of influence they have on the project.
According to Hamilton (2004, p. 56), it is always important to align stakeholders objectives in order to achieve the desired results in a given project. The project management team in GGOWL Mega Project made a concerted effort to ensure that stakeholders’ objectives are aligned with the objectives of the project in order to make the project successful.
As shown in the case study, the management identified all the major stakeholders in the project. Each stakeholder was analyzed based on the interests and level of influence to this project. This makes it possible to align the interests with the objectives of the project. The degree of alignment can be improved by using some of the known models such as the one below.
Source (Schwalbe 2005, p. 67)
As shown in the model, the focus of the management would be to identify the interest of the stakeholders, and their level of influence. Priority should always be given to highly influential and very interested stakeholders in the project.
Approach Adopted For Change Management
In mega projects, it is always common to encounter scenarios where changes are needed in the implementation of the projects. The approach taken in change management is pivotal in realizing success in the project. As Harvey (2005, p. 88) notes, mega projects that take several years to be completed are prone to meet several changes in the external environment.
When such changes arise, it becomes necessary to adopt an approach to change management that would help align project objectives to the changes taking place in the environment. For instance, cost of the project is one of the most probable change that should be managed very closely. In GGOWL Mega Project, the work was scheduled to start on May 2008.
This means that the feasibility study was conducted earlier, most probable in 2007. It would be important to note that there was a serious economic recession in this country that started in late 2008. The feasibility study, which was conducted before the onset of the recession, formed the basis of setting the budget, hence the total cost for the project. However, when the project begun, the country was hit by the 2008/2009 economic recession, which was a completely unexpected turn of events.
The implementing party in this project had to find a way of changing with the changes in the economic environment, and it is clear from the case study that this posed a serious challenge. This may be attributed to a series of changes in the completion date that the contractor was forced to make in an effort to manage the constrained budget.
This project has taken two different approaches in managing changes that may arise during its implementation stage. The owners of the project have maintained a flexible approach in determining the time of completion of the project. However, it has a very rigid approach when it comes to expanding finances of the project. This is evidently presented in the case study. Originally, the completion date for the project was set to be by March 2011.
This was changed to end of 2011, summer 2012, and finally end of 2012. In all the three changes, the owners of the project did not take issues with the contractor over the delay of the project beyond the initially agreed date. However, when the contractor mentioned that there was a need for some extra cash beyond the initially agreed amount, the request brought a lot of issues that forced the contractor and the owners of the project to go to court.
With the court ruling in favor of the owners, the contractor had to count losses while completing the project. To be flexible in terms of time for completing the project is fine, but it should not be tolerant of constant postponement of dates.
The system should not allow the third postponement of completion date unless something justifiable enough takes place. Similarly, the financing party should have some form of miscellaneous budget to support the contractor in cases where it considers it justifiable enough. This would avoid the risk of poor project completion due to limited time or finance.
The Perception of Success
The perception of success is dependent upon the delivery of benefits. In every project, there is always the perceived success that people will have upon its completion. According to Harvey (2005, p. 112), different stakeholders will have different perceptions of success towards a given project based on their interests. In this GGOWL Mega Project, different stakeholders have been identified, and it has been stated that each stakeholder has different expectations of the project.
For instance, the government hopes that when completed, this project will be able to provide 5% of the energy needed in this country. This will be in line with its plan to increase the percentage of clean energy in the country as a way of reducing pollution. This expectation defines the hope this stakeholder has towards the project, and the perception of success.
The government will consider this project successful when it is finally completed, and with the ability to provide the expected percentage of clean energy to the national grid. The benefit that this project will be expected to deliver to the government is to contribute this percentage of clean energy to the national grid. When this project is capable of providing this amount of clean power, the government would consider it a success.
However, when this is not achieved, then the perception of the government would be different. Other stakeholders have different expectations of the project. The owners are looking forward to getting good returns from the project because to them this is a business venture.
Environmental watch groups are looking forward to having clean energy. Their perception towards success of this project is based upon the ability of project to deliver the desired benefits. Just as Hamilton (2004, p. 85) confirms, the perception of success is dependent upon the delivery benefits.
It is therefore, very important to manage the uncertainty, risks and the planning horizons as a way of ensuring that the interests of all the stakeholders are taken care of in the project. The project management unit must ensure that uncertainties and risks are managed to ensure that the project delivers the expected benefits to the stakeholders.
Once it is stated that specific benefits are to be delivered to given stakeholders, all associated risks and uncertainties should be eliminated to ensure that the expectations are met. This is important because the project should be successful in the face of all stakeholders. The planning horizon should also be considered as part of the benefits that should be delivered to the stakeholders.
For instance, the government has estimates per given date of the amount of green energy that should be available in its national grid. When the project promises to be ready for output as per given date, this should be honored in order to help the government meet its estimates.
The Approach to Risk Management
Managing risks in a project is one of the core activities that require concerted effort from all the concerned stakeholders in order to achieve the desired success. According to Davidson (2003, p. 89), risks can be predicted and mitigated, but they cannot be avoided when developing a project.
This scholar says that project management team must understand factors in the external environment that may pose risk to the project, and be proactive in addressing the identified issues before they can affect success of a project. In this mega project, several measures have been taken by the owner to manage risks that are associated with this project.
The project management has conducted a detailed soil investigation in the area where the project will be located; it has collected site specific wind data, and developed conservative array spacing to minimize array losses. It has also incorporated the use of the latest technology to ensure that maximum success is achieved in the project.
This shows that the management is determined to ensure that all the associated risks in this project are minimized as much as possible. The strategy taken is proactive in nature, a fact that makes it possible to manage the unforeseen risks in the project.
The management has however, failed to be proactive in managing the possible financial risks that may arise in the project. In all its risks management plans, the management did not have a single strategy that is focused on managing the unforeseen financial risks. Unfortunately, the project is hit by one of the worst economic recession this country has ever witnessed soon after its start.
This proves to be one of the biggest challenges for the project, and the fact that it was not planned for makes the situation even more critical. However, this can be improved to ensure maximum benefit realization in the project. The management should make an effort to ensure that it remains proactive in all fronts, including coming up with measures of mitigating financial risks in the project. The proactive approach taken in managing other related risks should be reflected in managing financial risks.
The Project Approach to Benefits Realization
The approach taken by this project to benefit realization is very appropriate. The benefits have been defined on the basis of the involved stakeholders. There were six stakeholders who had specific benefit from this project. The project was to contribute 5% of the United Kingdom’s renewable energy, and this was to benefit the government.
Airtricity benefited by selling its shares of the project to SSE at about four times the value of the price it bought the shares at in 1997. RWE, one of the owners of the project, was to benefit this project by creating a diverse portfolio of energy generating sources in the country. SSE would benefit from this project by creating investment portfolio. Siemens was awarded the contract of delivering turbines, and it will benefit from the sales of the same.
Flour was given the tender of implementing the project, and it will benefit from the profits on the contract. It is clear that each stakeholder has specific area of benefit that is to be achieved once the project is complete. It would be important to note that all the stakeholders depend on the successful completion of the project in order to reap the benefits.
This approach could be improved by breaking down the benefits into smaller units to be achieved stage by stage. The benefits would be measured at these smaller stages, instead of determining the benefits only when the project is completed. The procurement route taken by the management was very beneficial to the contractor because it eliminated the need for the firm to look for the turbines.
List of References
Davidson, M 2003, Frame Managing Projects in Organizations, How to Make the Best Use of Time, Technique, and People, John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Hamilton, A 2004, Handbook of Project Management Procedures, TTL Publishing, New York.
Harvey, L 2005, Project Portfolio Management, A Practical Guide to Selecting Projects, John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Schwalbe, K 2005, Introduction to Project Management, Course Technology, New York.
This paper seeks to discuss low-cost sensors, which fuses the IoT methodology in smallholder agriculture farms. It is projected that the global population will increase to 9 billion by 2050, and food creation should increment from its present level. The crucial part of this development should come from small farmers who rely on hereditary knowledge in their agricultural practices and live in places where climate patterns and cycles are less understandable due to environmental change. Furthermore, during 1930, it was easy for one farmer to grow food for four people in the United States of America. However, today, with advanced technology, one farmer can supply 155 individuals. Smallholder ranches represent a considerable portion of agricultural creation in LMICs. The hereditary assorted variety of food is maintained by moderating the dangers of nourishing inefficiencies and environmental corruption. Smallholder farmers are the most vital part of the country, especially in the States like California, Texas, and Illinois, which have many holder farmers who generate immense revenue. Therefore, supporting such farmers is vital in helping the United States of America preserve the existing agricultural culture.
Executive Summary
This paper aimed to look into the IoT technology by first defining what IoT is, secondly, discussing how it can be implemented by listing down eight steps that should be followed. Thirdly, it looks at how the technology works in agriculture, specifically for the smallholder farms, by talking about some of the components that characterize IoT in agriculture. Finally, the research concludes by discussing some of the advantages and disadvantages of IoT technology and summarizes by calling for further research for improvement.
What IoT Is
The concept of IoT refers to situations whereby network connectivity and computing capabilities apply to devices, detectors, and objects never generally considered computers, enabling them to create, share and utilize data with little human interference. Typically, IoT is about information and communication, connectivity, and action and interaction. This paper seeks to define the meaning of IoT, how it can be implemented, how it works in agriculture for smallholder farms, and finally explore its advantages and disadvantages.
Connectivity in IoT entails all the things that are connected through the internet. Things in the case of IoT refer to any physical object such as a sensor that may be uniquely identified by a Unique Resource Identifier (URL) (Elijah et al., 2018). In terms of IoT communication and information, all connected things, whether through a network of servers or a combination of three channels, share their information to particular designated servers or endpoints (Chang et al., 2019).
Interaction and action is the last feature that characterizes IoT by helping to define its core, which entails information sharing and connection (El-Hajj et al., 2017). It is important to note that not all data from the related items is just produced to be stored and forgotten, instead, it has to be utilized in something useful.
However, the global internet’s resilience and security are riddled with poorly secured online connected devices, thereby putting the lives of many users at risk. The mass-scale rollout of different homogeneous IoT brands on the market also magnifies the security issues of digitally connected devices, particularly those that can automatically connect to others without consumers’ consent. It is, therefore, essential for the users and IoT systems and devices developers to collectively ensure that the internet and the users of such components are not exposed (Delaney & O’Hare, 2016). A collective approach is also required for safety, especially in developing appropriate and practical solutions that address the IoT challenges.
How IoT Can Be Implemented
When compared to the industrial revolution, there is no doubt that IoT digital technology is more significant. It is touted as the most palpable consequence of the fourth industrial revolution in its early stages (Delaney & O’Hare, 2016). Like in other past revolutions, those professionals and businesses that will adopt the IoT in their operations are more likely to have a strong competitive edge in the coming decades. Therefore, professionals and companies must know how to implement new technology and understand why they are implementing it (Antony et al., 2020). Knowing the rationale for adopting the technology would ensure the deployment enhances company operations in a manner that reimburses expenditure and offers the prospect of greater cost-effectiveness.
Some of the steps that should be followed in the successful Implementation include a clear set of objectives, which entails reaching out to experts, specialists, and engineers. It is especially critical if one does not know to define the problem being solved, what is to be achieved, and the best way to reach the objectives. The second step is to peruse through some of the successfully tested IoT cases (Yoon et al., 2018). After determining the specific goals that need to be achieved, any individual or organization must then identify where the identified problems fall within some of the areas where the IoT has been successfully implemented (Delaney & O’Hare, 2016). For example, in smallholder farms, one may wish to use IoT in environmental monitoring by gathering data about temperature, humidity, water quality, soil humidity, and pollution.
The decision on the correct hardware to use is the third step that must be considered during the IoT implementation. After deciding to adopt IoT, one must establish the kind of hardware in terms of the asset or device that should be integrated into the network (Chang et al., 2019). In the most basic form, the hardware may consist of sensors that provide data about vision, weight, pressure, temperature, color, sound, volume, among other things that must be sent somewhere, possibly a central server over the internet (Paul Antony et al., 2020). Other items that may be considered are actuators and edge computers, depending on what needs to be achieved.
The selection of IoT tools-there is no doubt about the internet being the foundation of IoT. However, what makes IoT useful are the different devices connected through it, and continuously work together to achieve specific objectives (Delaney & O’Hare, 2016). In this fourth step, any person or organization intending to use the technology is advised to ensure that all the identified devices that want to be used can be connected to a network. Furthermore, such components must have the ability to gather sensor data, process it, and send it through the internet to where it is required (El-Hajj et al., 2017). They must also receive commands through the internet to control actuators and undertake any task(s).
The fifth implementation step involves the selection of the IoT platform. Users intending to use the technology must find an effective software platform that will be critical in centralizing and controlling all the aspects of the IoT-connected devices and their network (Antony et al., 2020). The software platform may either be obtained from a specialized vendor or be custom-made in-house. Notwithstanding where the platform will be found, the important thing is to design the IoT around it by creating a prototype of what is needed (Paul Antony et al., 2020). Prototyping and Implementation is the sixth step that must be considered when establishing the IoT system. It is essential to involve a team of experts from various departments to decide on the best way forward because IoT entails many different methods that interact every day. As such, other professionals will have to be involved throughout the project’s incrementation, inception, Implementation, design, and prototyping (Antony et al., 2020). Some of the experts that may be needed include telecommunication specialists, computer engineers, automation engineers, software engineers, IT experts, electronic engineers, manufacturing experts, and mechatronic engineers.
Other experts involved at a later stage encompass computer scientists, information systems experts, security officers, data scientists, and statisticians. The seventh step of IoT implementation entails gathering useful data, especially if the project’s purpose appears to be more complicated, requiring a need to keep track of everything (Delaney & O’Hare, 2016). The cost of implementing the IoT system will require resources depending on the amount of storage space needed to achieve specific set goals.
Application of the cold and hot path analytics is the eighth step, mainly focused on the decision-making process that emphasizes the long-term goals of the system being implemented. The stage thus entails the storage of part or all the data collected by the sensors and their afterward interpretation or conversion (Elijah et al., 2018). The interpreted data enables an organization and, in this case, the smallholder farmers to the status of resources, assets, systems, and production over time, including the present collection of data. From the analyzed data, it is easy to know what needs to be changed or added to ensure efficiency. The last step involves implementing machine learning, better known as Artificial Intelligence (a complex group of algorithms) that is crucial in reviewing gathered data in real-time and identifying their patterns (Antony et al., 2020). AI may supplement or take a data scientist’s place in analyzing data to help predict the need for maintenance, among others, through pattern recognition.
Working of IoT in Agriculture for Smallholder Farms
The rise of precision agriculture among the smallholder farmers has been primarily facilitated by the penetration of the Internet-of-Things in many developing countries like India and Kenya. Despite the success of IoT in smallholder farms, there has been limited research on the challenges and outcomes of using the technology (Gómez-Chabla et al., 2019). A basic IoT agricultural system encompasses project support and structure, measurement device, Implementation and feedback, data transmission and data storage, and analytics. The layers of the devices usually have a sensor that helps measure the parameter of interest, for example, the moisture of the soil and the necessary electronics to support its functions (Yoon et al., 2018). All equipment involved is generally organized in topology and joined to a gateway via a communication channel in the data transport layer.
The existence of comprehensive coverage of wireless networks facilitates consistent and, in several cases, almost real-time dissemination of data. The server often receives aggregated or individual measurements to analyze, query, and clean (Cornejo-Velazquez et al., 2020). After the process is completed, relevant insights are then fed back to other IoT devices or end-users to inform decisions or trigger actions. Each IoT operation is increasingly made more straightforward by providing a wide variety of existing services and products precisely dedicated to specific applications, hence lowering deployment costs (Malavade & Akulwar, 2016). One of the most critical enablers for IoT services in LMICs is the presence of reliable cellular infrastructure. Recent data released by the World Bank about India, a standard benchmark for digital services for developing countries, smartphone penetration, and cellular connection is significant (Zheleva et al., 2017). The Internet of Things works in the smallholder farms by helping farmers track farming tractors and monitor livestock, for instance, when they have roamed from the herd to be rounded up. Nowadays, farmers use mobile IoT solutions to gather data on their herd’s location, health, or well-being, thus saving money in two ways (Cornejo-Velazquez et al., 2020). Firstly, the information helps in the identification and isolation of sick animals to prevent the disease from the spread. Secondly, it lowers labor costs, especially in identifying the location of the cattle. There are, however, certain instances where it may be challenging to instrument livestock with sensors, specifically outfitting the cattle with a collar (Dimitrieska et al., 2018). The alternative option in such a situation is using a wireless retrofitted bolus inserted in the cow’s stomach and communicating through Bluetooth to the ear tag.
The selection of wireless technology with enough battery power that can last the lifespan of cattle is another challenge that smallholder farmers may face when implementing the IoT solution. For instance, a beef cow usually lives for about fifteen months or longer. However, some technologies, such as the mesh network, may find it challenging to survive up to that time because of battery life (Paul Antony et al., 2020). In such a situation, farmers can opt to use the Symphony link, which can easily connect for that kind of period without much infrastructure around the ranch to communicate with all other devices. Through IoT soil sensors, smallholder farmers can be alerted about adverse conditions such as extreme acidity, allowing them time to figure out the problem and deliver better crops (Elijah et al., 2018). Besides sensing soil conditions, this technology also enables smallholder farmers to monitor water use for optimum crop growth, report weather conditions, and evaluate customized fertilizer compositions depending on soil chemistry.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Some of the advantages of using IoT include communication where devices can stay connected all the time hence reducing inefficiencies and encouraging more excellent quality; automation and control as a result of connected devices being centrally and digitally managed using wireless networks contributing to the rapid and prompt outcome; information whereby more data can be collected, which then allows smallholder farmers to make better decisions on quality production.; monitoring, which is considered one of the most apparent advantages of IoT (Dimitrieska et al., 2018). Knowing the exact quantity and type of supplies needed in the farm can help a farmer to save on costs that could have otherwise been wasted; Money-one of the critical benefits of IoT is saving capital since connected devices will help to simplify the data for farmers in a way that they understand instead of seeking the services of a consultant (Dimitrieska et al., 2018). The last advantage is the automation of daily tasks hence avoiding human intervention and also increasing transparency in the processes.
On the flip side, the disadvantages of the technology include compatibility-there is still no international standard of compatibility when it comes to the monitoring and tagging equipment. It is a disadvantage that can be easily solved by the companies that manufacture the equipment; complexity- the connection and communication of many devices at ago is likely to present more opportunities of failure because of the complexity involved; security and privacy-the risk of losing privacy increases as more connected devices continue to transmit data (Dimitrieska et al., 2018). For example, many people often question how well their data is encrypted during transmission to other devices; complexity-because of its complex and diverse network, IoT may fail because of a bug in the hardware or software, resulting in severe consequences since the problem may affect all the connected devices (Chang et al., 2019). Finally, this technology’s advent may render people jobless, mostly when many automated tasks, leading to increased unemployment rates.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this paper has thoroughly looked at the meaning of IoT, how it can be implemented, how it works in agriculture for smallholder farms, and finally explored its advantages and disadvantages. From the paper, there is an information gap about IoT that needs to be addressed through further research. For instance, there is less information about how the devices used in this technology can be standardized. Despite some of the system’s challenges, there is no doubt that IoT is the best option for smallholder farmers. Mass adoption of technology in agriculture will go a long way in ensuring food security for the increasing human population.
References
Antony, A. P., Leith, K., Jolley, C., Lu, J., & Sweeney, D. J. (2020). A review of practice and Implementation of the Internet of Things (IoT) for smallholder agriculture. Sustainability, 12(9), 3750.
Chang, C., Srirama, S. N., & Buyya, R. (2019). Internet of Things (IoT) and new computing paradigms. Fog and Edge Computing: Principles and Paradigms, 6, 1–23.
Cornejo-Velazquez, E., Acevedo-Sandoval, O. A., Romero-Trejo, H., & Toriz-Palacios, A. (2020). Low-cost technological strategies for smallholders sustainability: A review. Journal of Technology Management & Innovation, 15(1), 105–113.
Delaney, D. T., & O’Hare, G. M. (2016). A framework to implement IoT network performance modeling techniques for network solution selection. Sensors, 16(12), 2038.
Dimitrieska, S., Stankovska, A., & Efremova, T. (2018). The fourth industrial revolution €” advantages and disadvantages. Economics and Management, 14(2), 182–187.
El-Hajj, M., Chamoun, M., Fadlallah, A., & Serhrouchni, A. (2017). Analysis of authentication techniques in the Internet of Things (IoT). 2017 1st Cyber Security in Networking Conference (CSNet), 1–3.
Elijah, O., Rahman, T. A., Orikumhi, I., Leow, C. Y., & Hindia, M. N. (2018). An overview of the Internet of Things (IoT) and data analytics in agriculture: Benefits and challenges. IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 5(5), 3758–3773.
Gómez-Chabla, R., Real-Avilés, K., Morán, C., Grijalva, P., & Recalde, T. (2019). IoT applications in agriculture: A systematic literature review. 2nd International Conference on ICTs in Agronomy and Environment, 68–76.
Malavade, V. N., & Akulwar, P. K. (2016). Role of IoT in agriculture. IOSR Journal of Computer Engineering, 2016, 2278–0661.
Paul Antony, A., Leith, K., Jolley, C., Lu, J., & Sweeney, D. (2020). A review of practice and Implementation of the Internet of Things (IoT) for Smallholder Agriculture. Sustainability, 12(9), 3750; Web.
Yoon, C., Huh, M., Kang, S.-G., Park, J., & Lee, C. (2018). Implement smart farm with IoT technology. 2018 20th International Conference on Advanced Communication Technology (ICACT), 749–752.
Zheleva, M., Bogdanov, P., Zois, D.-S., Xiong, W., Chandra, R., & Kimball, M. (2017). Smallholder agriculture in the information age: Limits and opportunities. Proceedings of the 2017 Workshop on Computing Within Limits, 59–70.
This paper will discuss how facial recognition can help to revolutionize farming. Also, how the way the multi-UAV framework works. An onlooker ramble floats 90-270 feet over the group. This automaton utilizes descending confronting sound system cameras to follow the movement. It decides the area and direction of the cows. Three laborer rambles take the area data given by the spectator automaton and use it to follow a particular bovine. The laborer rambles at that point to play out the wellbeing checking errands. To test self-governing automatons in synchronized flight, the group set up a dry run community in a cellar lab of the mechanical designing structure. Here, tall roofs permit cameras roosted on the dividers to go about as the spectator ramble, utilizing retroreflective markers to triangulate the situation of the automatons and dairy animals in the space. Programming run by a close-by PC takes that data and gives the specialist rambles arrange and flight directions comparative with where the cow is. There are no genuine bovines in the lab, however, there is a dairy animals model.
Introduction
This restrictive programming will depend on consideration regarding pictures to screen the two appearances and creature covers up. Their innovation, Cargill and Cainthus’ fight, will make it conceivable to utilize PC imaging programming to screen nourishment and water admission, internal heat level, resting and sitting time, and ecological conditions so as to monitor creature wellbeing and government assistance.
Another issue that faces the cultivating business all the more extensively is work deficiencies. The California Farming Bureau detailed that 56% of ranchers can’t recruit enough laborers to stay aware of their requests. Numerous employments are brief, regardless of whether they are agreement or regular, to stay aware of change underway. While trying to convince more specialists to join the cultivating business, bosses are offering all-day work regardless of whether it isn’t required. What’s more, almost 50% of all homestead laborers are not legitimately approved to work in the nation, making representatives transient. This has brought about numerous ranchers going to innovation and motorization to fill holes in labor. Facial acknowledgment assists ranchers with handling both of these issues.
Background
It should be recognized that the modern agricultural sector has undergone significant changes compared to the industry in which people worked a few decades ago. At the end of the twentieth century, the farmer is usually an employee of a small ranch caring for cattle, where the stock of animals is hardly extremely large if it is not big meat processing plants. However, coupled with the general increase in the world population, the availability of meat products became higher, which led to an intensification of needs: demand for meat products increased. This fact can be seen in the analysis of comparative statistics on the dynamics of the total number of cattle, both individually on the continents and in total. In particular, Figure 1 shows that over half a century, the number of cattle increased by 43% for Asia, by 190% for Africa, by 84% for North and South America, by 52% for Australia, and decreased by 38% for Europe. Without stopping to discuss the decline in the number of cattle in Europe, it should be noted that the general trend of population growth is difficult to notice: the total change in cattle population over this period was +331%.
Figure 1: Dynamics of cattle population on the continents in the period from 1961 to 2018
The increase in the number of cattle certainly has an impact on the productivity and quality of the agricultural sector. First of all, it concerns the employees’ professional experience: while personal and individual care used to be the priority early, nowadays, the specialists should mainly adjust computer equipment and monitor the proper functioning of intelligent systems (Plug and Play Tech Center, 2019). In other words, a cow as an individual animal has lost the level of care that it used to receive and instead began to play a role in a large chain of farm production.
There is no doubt that the welfare of livestock should be of paramount importance for agronomists. Even though eventually the animal will be killed for the sake of food resources, it must be in a safe and healthy condition throughout its life. This concept has served as a moral basis for the creation of an ethical principle of the new welfarism that protects the rights of animals (Taylor, 2018). Indeed, the consumer wants a delicious and quality meat product, and it is known that the absence of stress in the life of an animal directly affects the structure of the meat. The general determinants of livestock welfare are the lack of transportation, the friendly attitude of workers, the quality of food and drinking water, fresh air, and long walks (Tarantola et al., 2020; Cozzi et al., 2016). Deprivation of cattle any of a fundamental need can be fatal, so it is essential to provide the animal with all the necessary resources and to examine its quality of life regularly.
Unfortunately, animal welfare guidelines have been ignored by some suppliers. As a result of inadequate management policies, livestock is grown in unsanitary conditions, fed on inappropriate feed without vital nutrients, and suffers from regular safety and health problems. While there are enough practical examples of such scenarios, the case of a Canadian farmer from Ontario deserves special attention because his indifference and irresponsibility killed more than 1,500 pigs (“Ontario man pleads guilty,” 2018). The farmer’s animals lived in an unhygienic environment without proper ventilation and care for their health, which eventually led to premature mass death. While this story is an example of the outrageous and unacceptable attitude of the farm owner, it also shows the reality of the most unimaginable scenarios in the agricultural sector. In addition, these facts only confirm the need to develop a monitoring system to ensure regular care for the welfare of livestock.
The search for tools to monitor livestock 24 hours a day, seven days a week, has attracted a great deal of research, each of which offers its developments as a solution to a practical problem. For instance, the widely known difficulty associated with grazing cows on pastures is the loss of the animal as a result of uncontrolled actions by livestock. Watching cows seems particularly difficult if the pasture is not on a plain with clearly visible species but in close proximity to forests, ravines, and marshlands (Cheng, 2019). Increasing the number of simultaneously walked cows directly affects the possibility of their regular identification: the more objects to be observed, the harder it is for a shepherd to cope with this task. The solution to this problem lies in the use of GPS technology: with the help of small elements modified by the tracking function — such as collars, chips, or bracelets — the owner of the farm can find geodata of the lost animal and take timely rescue measures (Schieltz et al., 2017). It should be noted that while this technology is relatively cheap and easy to use, it requires regular battery replacement and can cause discomfort to the animal.
An alternative technology solution for the agricultural sector could be the introduction of feeding management systems. The issues of nutritional adequacy and monitoring of the fullness of the diet are central predictors of an intelligent approach to livestock welfare. Inadequate use of resources can lead not only to problems with farm animal health but also to economic damage to the farm. In order to neutralize the undesirable effects, feeding management systems can ensure that every meal is accounted for, and workers are notified if an animal is undernourished. Specific algorithms for creating such programs can be the use of sound signals received from each animal as a result of jaw muscles (Rau et al., 2020). However, such models’ practical use may seem unlikely if we consider a large-scale production replete with different sounds and audio signals.
In general, it should be clarified that technological models for managing livestock life are not limited to the observation of food and control of the animal’s presence on the farm. On the contrary, the variety of practical tasks has given rise to numerous models that are used for monitoring. Some examples of already mentioned management programs may include breeding control systems, sleep analysis, care of animals with diseases, including control of timely medication intake (Van Den Pol-Van Dasselaar et al., 2017). At the same time, through a database that is updated periodically, farm owners have constant access to complete information about an individual animal, including date of birth, breed, susceptibility to disease, behavioral and nutritional characteristics, and maturation times.
Although the advantage of such programs for modern agricultural production is evident, as interaction with cattle is simplified, it is necessary to note the difficulties that may hinder the successful use of monitoring systems. First of all, it concerns practical skills: not all farmworkers have professional computer experience, and the need to regularly access the database, tracking the regularity of livestock development can be a problem for employees. In addition, it should be clearly understood that agricultural activities in themselves are a multi-component and complex industry where employees are expected to be multitasking. Animals must receive daily medical care, eat and sleep on time, and get fresh and clean air: to perform all these tasks, farmworkers must have the multi-potential to keep everything under control. Adding a dozen different functions to the range of responsibilities expressed in the variety of monitoring systems will only make the farm more complicated and will not bring any positive results for either the animal or the human.
The expected solution, in this case, is to use an integrated program to monitor all the above described livestock conditions. The system should identify any changes and deviations from the animals’ usual behavior and decipher and record them in a visually friendly form. For example, a caregiver can use the application to evaluate all the parameters for an individual animal or the entire herd at once. Moreover, in case of any emergency — whether it is an exit from the farm territory, an unexpected mating, or loss of consciousness — the unified monitoring system urgently notifies the owner about it. Such a solution should not seem fantastic to the reader since it already exists. Digital identification of the person becomes available to farm owners who want to take care of the welfare of animals.
Details and Description
Modern systems for tracking and identification of biometric user data are increasingly being introduced into the everyday life of society. Voice recognition, fingerprint recognition, face, or retina scanners are already widely known technologies for using smartphones, bank services, or for accessing other confidential data. The transfer of some of these technologies to the agricultural industry has a high potential to control animal behavior and respond to changes in a timely manner.
Face recognition, discussed in detail in this project, is a simple technology available even for use with a cell phone. According to Bora (2020), Indian entrepreneurs have already trained the program to distinguish faces of animals with high accuracy, which only confirms the predictions for the rapid practical implementation of mass face recognition systems throughout the farm. Given the diversity of everyday farming tasks and the frequent combination of different animal species on the same ranch — it can be pigs, cows, sheep, or chickens — it is important to note that the technology can be used to solve multiple tasks in parallel.
For example, for some animals, the biometric data obtained is needed to support conservation and well-being efforts. This applies not only to monitoring their behavior but also tracking the vital functions of the body: temperature, quality of sleep, nutrition. If a cow, for some reason, is not recognized by other animals in the cattle, it can be evaluated with the help of video surveillance systems. Thus, the animal will receive the necessary care and attention, and thus the problem of well-being will be solved.
In addition, location data can be useful for finding animals and catching poachers. If, during grazing, a cow, horse, or sheep fought off the herd and did not return to the stall, this can be clarified with the help of computer vision skills. When the system detects the absence of the animal in its place, it will inform the owner of the farm about the loss and connect the rest of the face sensors available throughout the ranch. So, for example, having established the last location of the cow before the loss of the signal, the system can predict its probable route. If this area is known to be potentially threatening to livestock health and safety due to poachers, the system will let the user know.
Installation of recognition sensors on the territory of the whole ranch and in the most frequently visited places, in particular, has a high practical potential. Using this information, the researchers can monitor food and water consumption, determine body temperature and deviations in behavior. If an animal, for whatever reason, refuses to eat and consumes extreme amounts of water, this may indicate a health problem. For this reason, the following use of facial recognition systems can be expressed in medical care. Animals can also be monitored to obtain new data about them or to predict diseases they may suffer in the future.
It is worth noting another area of use of real-time monitoring systems that simplifies the work of the agricultural sector, namely, crop production. Although this work is focused on facial recognition of animals, vegetation analysis embodied through computer vision can perform similar functions. Plant breeders use computer vision to recognize diseases of crops: both at the micro level, by close-up images of leaves and plants, and at the macro level, revealing early signs of plant diseases or pest spread according to aerial photographs. Of course, photography is not the best source of data, and many essential aspects of plant life are better studied in other ways, such as using spectroscopic photometers, video surveillance, or in person. Often the condition of plants can be better understood, for example, by collecting hyperspectral images with special sensors or by performing laser scanning: such methods are increasingly used in agronomy (Wang et al., 2019). These kinds of data are usually of high resolution and are inherently closer to medical images than photographs; one of the planting surveillance systems is called AgMRI (Saik, 2018). Although special models are needed to process these data, their spatial structure allows for the application of modern computer vision technologies, in particular convolution neural networks.
Methodology
There is no doubt about the success of the programs described: it can bring the company more confident management and peace of mind for the safety of livestock. In this case, it is essential to discuss the methodology of implementing facial recognition systems on the farm. The primary task in designing the monitoring ecosystem is to address the issue of data relevance. It is evident that no one on the farm will look through hundreds of hours of video footage to track any remarkable trends in animal behavior. In that case, the solution to this problem should be to use machine learning.
It should be recalled that machine learning is traditionally understood as training a mathematical model on historical data in order to predict a specific event or phenomenon already on new data. In other words, this is an attempt to force the algorithms of programs to perform actions based on previous experience, not only on the basis of existing data (Beam & Kohane, 2018). Machine learning also includes a whole set of methods and algorithms, which can predict some results from the input data. For example, a farmer has information about the incidence of viral infection affecting reproductive systems in some animals, while machine learning algorithms can predict which of the data descendants of the entire herd will be most vulnerable. Although machine learning is already used in crop production, its widespread use as an application for animal welfare has not yet been discussed (Chen et al., 2019). In this regard, the use of computer algorithms seems to be the most appropriate task.
Video control systems, made as small video cameras, are installed throughout the farm to maximize coverage of land, premises, and surrounding borders. Thus, the main task of placing the cameras is to maximize the angle of view. The pre-installation step should be the training phase of the system: one way to implement this idea is to upload several thousand photos of animals into a database. In particular, the computer should be able to analyze the animal by face, but the torso shape, spot size, tail, or growth defects can become reference points for more accurate and consistent identification. Uploading photo data to the database with the animal identification code assignment is a long, unnecessary job for the program to learn to recognize the animal. In general, many companies report on the successful application of these models: the chance of accurately identifying an animal by image only is more than 95 percent (Kumar et al., 2016; Yao et al., 2019). On the one hand, this indicates the high reliability of such systems, but on the other hand, the need for further development of recognition algorithms.
Figure 3: A prototype of app which evaluates animal behavior
The final implementation of the developed ideas includes video cameras with facial recognition sensors, an image decoding system, and a handy database application for interaction with animals. The daily scenario of such a system may be that the farmworkers in the morning explore these applications and assess the livestock dynamics. If a representative has a problem, insomnia, or a change in behavior patterns during the last night, the specialist is notified. Throughout the day, the application allows to monitor the quality of nutrition control, reminds one of the need to take drugs or other medical procedures. Facial recognition systems are crucial during the grazing of cattle. If the cameras are located high enough to monitor the herd from above, then it will allow the computer to assess trends in the movement of animals, to determine the “leader” of the herd and lagging animals. In the evening, when the workers go home, facial recognition systems monitor the animals to inform the employee about the detected problems in the morning. If in the night period, the animal needs emergency help, the application will give the signal.
Practical Analysis of Facial Recognition
Face recognition is a fully developed and logical system that combines the functions of individual monitoring programs. It should be admitted that this technology is not new, and by 2020 there are several large companies actively developing similar products. This section will provide some information about the result of the implementation of such systems and some nuances that should be taken into account when designing.
Perhaps the leader in the field of facial recognition systems research is the Irish company Cainthus, which studies herds of cows with the help of computer vision skills. Identification, which lasts only a few seconds, is used as part of an algorithm controlled by artificial intelligence and is ultimately passed on to the farmer. Cainthus strives to create a culture of well-being for animals and simplify economic farm management models, so it is natural to collect and analyze data such as water and feed supply and consumption, tracking behavior, mating times, and the amount of product output — whether milk, eggs or wool — is natural. It is fair to admit that the Irish company has reached individual peaks: Cainthus has tested its own results on fifteen dairy farms in Europe and Canada and recently focused on four factories in California (Cooke, 2020). The progress was significant as a large American company with a well-known brand history invested in the development of Cainthus, encouraging research (ModVegan, 2018). It follows that the practical application of facial recognition systems for animals is already a conceptual part of agriculture and can be expected to intensify in the future.
Figure 3: Facial recognition software helps to assess animal behavior
An essential part of the project implementation is the early discussion of some practical problems that may be faced by agricultural producers. In particular, CCTV cameras are sensitive electronic devices that are not resistant to natural forces. Devices installed outdoors, across pastures, may be exposed to rain, strong winds, or dust storms. In order to maintain the operability of the cameras and to extend their service life, it is recommended to place the device in an airtight container that does not prevent significant face recognition.
At the same time, an essential part of the analysis for the animals occurs at night, when most of the farmworkers are absent, and the livestock is alone. For successful surveillance during this period, the camera must have a night vision function that allows you to track all the same identification parameters as during the day. Indeed, such functionality technically complicates the cameras and increases their cost, but it must be recognized that the initial investment must be sufficient to ensure a smooth operation of the farm.
Advantages and Disadvantages
As with any other technology, the animal face recognition system being implemented for the agricultural industry has its pros and cons. The apparent advantage of the system is that it simplifies the interaction with animals. Employees more need to keep in mind all the details of animal behavior or remember which of the cows was worse fed or drank more water: the computerized database leaves employees with tasks to perform specific tasks in strict sequence. With face recognition, the farmers will be able to access information about each animal, including biographical notes, medical data, and economic justification. As previously described, thanks to these technologies, cattle will no longer be lost outside the grazing area, and any medical or mental deviations will be solved in an emergency. Moreover, an adequate personnel management policy will be a severe economic advantage, which includes the evaluation of the necessary and sufficient number of employees, quality control of the performance of their professional duties.
Nevertheless, there are a number of serious problems that need to be addressed in order to successfully implement the system. Ongoing developments do not address the issue of the legal protection of such information and do not take into account the ethics of the round-the-clock monitoring of animals. On the other hand, intelligent systems are vulnerable, which threatens the cyber-security of computer surveillance and facial recognition systems. Moreover, the system will remain imperfect, and even a high chance of correct recognition of an animal does not guarantee absolute correctness. As a result, the system may confuse the information of individual animals and cause a false alarm. In addition, the facial recognition system requires a significant financial investment in the initial stage and periodic monitoring of the performance of individual cameras and sensors.
Future Research
Future research in this technology industry should address the challenges that are currently disadvantages of animal facial recognition systems. Moreover, in the future, the system must be updated and modified as the demands of farmers will increase. In particular, it is proposed to evaluate the feasibility of using cameras for all animals at once and the resource intensity of the databases. It is crucial to understand if the combination of faces of different animals will not become an obstacle for the devices. The likely development of this technology may be aimed at crop production, which also needs regular monitoring and control.
Conclusion
To sum up, it should be noted that the agricultural sector is now experiencing incredible technological progress. The work of farmers is already noticeably different from that which was relevant for agricultural production ten years or more ago. One of the innovative solutions for the farm is the installation of animal face recognition systems, which is designed to solve several problems at once. Here are just a few of them: (i) animal welfare, (ii) research on trends in herd movement, (iii) identification of potential role models among the herd, (iv) medical control of the animal, (v) tracking of food and drink cycles. Although the proposed solution in this paper is conceptual, some companies, such as Cainthus, have already successfully integrated video surveillance systems for dairy cows. In the near future, it can be expected that these technologies will become a natural part of life in the agricultural sector and that scientific progress will have an even more significant impact on the work of farms.
References
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Bora, G. (2020). Facial recognition for cows: Why is Mooofarm giving cattle a digital identity? The Economic Times. Web.
Chen, C. H., Kung, H. Y., & Hwang, F. J. (2019). Deep learning techniques for agronomy applications. Agronomy, 9(3), 142-143. Web.
Cheng, A. (2019). Good and bad pasture management (examples). Shortform. Web.
Cooke, L. (2020). Cainthus uses artificial intelligence to watch cows 24/7. Darigold. Web.
Kumar, S., Tiwari, S., & Singh, S. K. (2016). Face recognition of cattle: Can it be done? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India Section A: Physical Sciences, 86(2), 137-148.
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Wang, Y., Wen, W., Wu, S., Wang, C., Yu, Z., Guo, X., & Zhao, C. (2019). Maize plant phenotyping: Comparing 3D laser scanning, multi-view stereo reconstruction, and 3D digitizing estimates. Remote Sensing, 11(1), 63-69. Web.
Yao, L., Hu, Z., Liu, C., Liu, H., Kuang, Y., & Gao, Y. (2019). Cow face detection and recognition based on automatic feature extraction algorithm [PDF document]. Web.
The tourism industry, especially farmers, is currently in need of finding ways to increase income. In particular, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the number of inbound flights decreased by 90%, it is necessary to pay attention to domestic tourism (Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, 2021, p. 4). VisitEngland (2021, p. 30) reports that among UK farms, 88% need transformation measures to increase capacity. In this regard, the exploratory mixed methods approach was chosen to study the possibilities of diversifying the activities of Sunrise Farm.
Analyzing both qualitative and quantitative data will answer the research question: “What diversification opportunity would best meet the needs of Sunrise Farm and its current customers?” The approach involves collecting qualitative data through semi-structured interviews as well as collecting quantitative data through a questionnaire. Further, it is necessary to consistently analyze the data obtained, identifying the key needs of customers based on interviews and their comparison and supplementation with quantitative data. The result of the study emphasizes that Sunrise Farm needs to rethink its development plans and focus on agritourism.
Research methods
Guide to Methods
The exploratory mixed methods approach was chosen for the research. The choice of the mixed type of data analysis is justified by the assumption that “neither a qualitative nor a quantitative analysis of networked tourism… are able, separately, to provide a meaningful outcome” (Mariani and Baggio, 2020, p. 19). Molina-Azorín and Font (2015) note that the use of a mixed approach provides the collection of quantitative data that are important when presenting research findings to officials or investors. The researchers emphasize that this technique is the most common and preferred for considering the travel industry (Khoo-Lattimore and Mura, 2017). The use of a blended approach provides a deeper analysis of the current industry trends, not only from the perspective of customer perception but also of statistical factors.
Several issues regarding this approach affect the quality of the results obtained. In particular, Ivankova and Creswell (2006) note that there are difficulties in prioritizing the sequence of qualitative and quantitative data analysis. However, Mason and Augustyn (2010) identify that an exploratory qualitative study is an effective tool for building a research basis at the initial stage. Analysis of qualitative data and subsequent integration with analysis of quantitative data allows “discussing the outcomes of the whole study and drawing implications” (Ivankova and Creswell, 2006, p. 17). Thus, the exploratory mixed methods approach with sequential data analysis will provide comprehensive data on the current situation and the opportunities for diversification.
Qualitative and quantitative data must be collected for research and a mixed approach. As part of a study of Sunrise Farm activities and an assessment of opportunities for diversification of enterprise operations, interviews with respondents became the initial stage. In particular, a semi-structured approach to the interviews was chosen that is suitable for the explanatory nature of the analysis. The main characteristic of this approach is the integration of observation and prior knowledge of the field (Schmidt, 2008). The advantage of this method is that “all participants were asked questions from the same loose set, but there was no defined ordering of the questions” (Dearnley, 2005, p. 22).
Thus, the interview schedule was prepared for conducting the interview, which assumes more flexible answers from the respondents. This approach was chosen because it allows participants to point out factors that may be opportunities for enterprise improvement based on personal experience.
The interview schedule was developed in accordance with the research objective and included a monthly survey of stakeholders of Sunrise Farm. The research objective is to “understand the needs of customers and potential customers to Sunrise Farm” (Sunrise Farm: interview transcripts, n.d, p. 1). Nine respondents with different experiences of interaction with the enterprise participated in the interview. All respondents’ answers are given in the interview transcript and constitute qualitative research data. Quantitative data was obtained through the Sunrise Farm visitor questionnaire, which was collected in April, August, and November 2019 (Visitor questionnaire data, n.d). The information it contains will enable the collection of more structured statistics that can complement qualitative data.
Results
As a result of the qualitative data analysis, it was possible to determine which services are prioritized by visitors and what changes they would like to observe. From the analysis of qualitative data, several key aspects can be identified that were noted by several respondents at once:
Sunrise Farm is perceived as a place for a relaxing family vacation and visitors would not like to see the business as a tourist attraction (except for respondent 9);
Many respondents (interviews no. 2, 3, 4, 5) note that organic food in the store and other services are expensive for them;
The respondents underline that Sunrise Farm lacks activities for teenagers and families without kids;
The labyrinth is perceived by many respondents as an attraction for children and is not of interest to other visitors (interviews no. 1, 4, 5, 7, 8);
Visitors note that their main interest in Sunshine Farm is a cafe and picking fruits and berries;
Interviews also identified potential opportunities for improvement: expanding to other counties outside of York, expanding transport opportunities, raising awareness about organic food, and providing opportunities for life in the countryside.
The data obtained during the interview made it possible to identify the main trends. The visitors’ questionnaire allowed obtaining quantitative data defining the population, age, average costs per visit, popular activities, transport methods, and product preferences. The quantitative data made it possible to confirm the results of the qualitative study and identify new information. In particular, shops and cafes are of interest to 90% of all visitors, although the interviews emphasized the cafe (Visitor questionnaire data, n.d). 62% of visitors come with their families and only 20% with children, which indicates the need to focus on a more diverse age group (Visitor questionnaire data, n.d).
Fruit and berry picking has a fairly high seasonal demand among visitors (Visitor questionnaire data, n.d). Quantitative data also identifies that 90% of visitors use a car to get to Sunrise Farm (Visitor questionnaire data, n.d). The maze is of interest to a third of the visitors and is also unpopular among visitors without children (Visitor questionnaire data, n.d). Additionally, the results of the survey made it possible to identify visitor preferences that were not presented in the interview.
Conclusion
Analysis of qualitative data made it possible to identify the current attitude of customers towards the company and determine possible directions of development. It is important that the qualitative data also allows determining the attitude of potential visitors to pay attention to the promotion. Analysis of qualitative data allowed determining that Sunrise Farm needs to attract tourists from other regions or countries of Europe (Sunrise Farm: interview transcripts, n.d).
Slocum and Curtis (2017) note that diversification for small agricultural enterprises is often associated with insufficient funding, and partnerships with other regions can mitigate this obstacle. The qualitative data obtained confirms that Sunrise Farm attracts predominantly British people from adjacent areas (Visitor questionnaire data, n.d). Thus, the opportunity for diversification can be noted, which was identified using the mixed method.
Qualitative data also draws attention to the need to involve adolescents in the activities of the enterprise. In particular, it is important not only to create more attractive places for teenagers to visit but also to involve them in permanent employment on the farm and participation in the agricultural business (Sunrise Farm: interview transcripts, n.d). Moreover, “rural areas are more financially self-sufficient to prevent the departure of more rural young people” (Liu and Yen, 2017, p. 9).
Participation in the development of agriculture has another important application in the form of increasing environmental awareness and maintaining loyalty (Xue and Chang, 2020). The development of agritourism and the participation of visitors in farming activities is also associated with an increase in income, to a greater extent, the production and sale of agricultural products (Pitrova and Krejčí, 2020). Giaccio and Giannelli (2018) also confirm that agritourism enterprises offer enhanced job opportunities for young people. Thus, this opportunity, which has been identified through the analysis of qualitative data, represents a prospect for long-term development.
Analysis of quantitative data also confirms the described trends and allows the identification of new opportunities. In particular, the increased seasonal demand for fruit picking supports the need to develop job opportunities and develop agritourism (Visitor questionnaire data, n.d). At the same time, the qualitative data identified dissatisfaction with the prices of organic products and quantitative interest in the local store (Sunrise Farm: interview transcripts, n.d; Visitor questionnaire data, n.d). At the same time, the development of agriculture will allow visitors to participate in farming activities and, through the development of the local economy, reduce prices (Slocum and Curtis, 2017). Thus, the mixed-method approach made it possible to identify the priority direction of diversification and long-term development.
Data analysis also highlights the need to develop more affordable transport in rural areas. Shumaev and Morkovkin (2018) emphasize that providing visitors with easier means of transportation is a key aspect of agritourism development. Qualitative and quantitative data analysis also identifies this need (the need for a bus is noted in the interview; the survey results identify that most people use cars to reach Sunrise Farm) (Sunrise Farm: interview transcripts, n.d; Visitor questionnaire data, n.d). However, this point is more a concern of the tourism policy of the region and the country as a whole rather than a separate enterprise.
Quantitative data also made it possible to identify the need for people to have access to animals on the farm. In particular, 17% of those surveyed noted they would like to be able to interact with farm animals, which also reflects the current trends in farming diversification (Visitor questionnaire data, n.d; How British farmers, 2019). This point is a promising opportunity since animals can be a “magnet that draws more tourists towards the individuals running agritourism farms and thus causes them to obtain higher profit” (Jeczmyk and Uglis, 2021, p. 1). The qualitative data also indicates the visitor’s need for accommodation in rural areas. However, VisitEngland (2019) notes that despite an increase in the overall volume of tourism in the country, the number of nights is declining annually (Kantar, 2019, p. 6). Thus, this possibility needs additional research among the visitors and within the industry framework.
However, within the framework of the study, the method also has a number of limitations that can significantly affect the quality of the findings. First of all, both the interview and the survey involved a small number of visitors over a short period of time, which makes the data incomplete. Second, there is a significant discrepancy between the amount of data obtained in the course of qualitative analysis and in the course of quantitative analysis, which may violate their reliability and significance. At the same time, the survey seems to be more complete and reliable since it was conducted at different times of the year since seasonality is important for this industry.
Recommendations
The analysis made it possible to identify opportunities for diversification and development of Sunrise Farm. In particular, the quantitative and qualitative data collected underscore the need to improve the rural economy, expand inter-regional cooperation, focus on agriculture, and provide visitors with animal contact opportunities. In this regard, Sunrise Farm is advised to reconsider its intention to develop a direction of local delicacies. This recommendation is based on the research data, which emphasizes that the company mainly attracts local visitors who would also not like the development of fancy tourist attractions.
Recommendations for future research include interviewing a larger number of people to acquire deeper qualitative data. Based on the information obtained, more specific questionnaires should also be compiled to gather more detailed quantitative information on each diversification opportunity. It is also important to pay attention to the analysis of the current regional and state policy regarding the development of agritourism and rely on it to choose the directions of development.
Reference List
Dearnley, C. (2005) ‘A reflection on the use of semi-structured interviews, Nurse Research, 13(1), pp. 19-28. Web.
Ivankova, N. V. and Creswell, J. W. (2006) ‘Using mixed-methods sequential explanatory design: from theory to practice, Field Methods, 18(3), pp. 3-20. Web.
Khoo-Lattimore, C. and Mura, P. (2017) ‘The time has come: a systematic literature review of mixed methods research in tourism’, Current Issues in Tourism, 22(13), pp. 1531-1550. Web.
Liu, S. Y. and Yen, C. Y. (2017) ‘A conceptual framework for agri-food tourism as an eco-innovation strategy in small farms’, Sustainability, 9(1), pp. 1-11. Web.
Mariani, M. and Baggio, R. (2020) ‘The relevance of mixed methods for network analysis in tourism and hospitality research, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 32 (4), pp. 1643-1673. Web.
Mason, P. and Augustyn, M. (2010) ‘Exploratory study in tourism: designing an initial, qualitative phase of sequenced, mixed methods research’, International Journal of Tourism Research, 12(5), pp. 432-448. Web.
Molina-Azorín, J. F. and Font, X. (2015) ‘Mixed methods in sustainable tourism research: an analysis of prevalence, designs and application in JOST (2005–2014)’, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 24(4), pp. 549-573. Web.
Pitrova, J. and Krejčí, I. (2020) ‘The economic impact of diversification into agritourism’, International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 23(5), pp. 713-734. Web.
Schmidt, C. (2004) ‘The analysis of semi-structured interviews’, in Flick, U. and Kardorff, E. (eds.) A companion to qualitative research. London: SAGE Publications, pp. 253-258.
Shumaev, V. A. and Morkovkin, D. E. (2018) ‘Innovative aspects of agritourism project management’, in Goal, F. L. and Filimonova, N. (eds.) Financial and economic tools used in the world hospitality industry. London; CRC Press, pp. 241-248.
Slocum, S. and Curtis, K. (2017) ‘Farm diversification through farm shop entrepreneurship in the UK’, Journal of Food Distribution Research, 48(2), pp. 35-51.
Xue, L. L. and Chang, Y. R. (2020) ‘The sustainable development of organic agriculture-tourism: the role of consumer landscape and pro-environment behavior’, Sustainability, 12(15), pp. 1-19. Web.
The selected resource presents a simulator of farming in the counties of the less developed areas that are often called as 3rd world countries. At the first stages of the game, a player has only a simple dwelling, a family consisting of four members, and a field that can be used for raising crops. During the game, an individual faces multiple challenges while trying to earn money and align the effective work of this farm.
The problems might include corrupted officials, various diseases, poor weather conditions, an activity of poachers, and bank failures. These factors impact the available sum of money, the health and the state of family members, and future actions. Additionally, a player can build some infrastructure and contribute to the development of the area by investing earned money in various facilities.
The given simulator can be considered a potent tool that can be used by educators in the social studies classroom. The fact is that today technologies are integrated into the curriculum to achieve better results and differentiate ways in which knowledge can be attained (Delvin-Scherer & Sardone, 2010). At the same time, social studies classrooms have always been associated with games, and role-play activities that have the high efficiency regarding a need to provide learners with information that can help them to get the improved understanding of the studied issue (Delvin-Scherer & Sardone, 2010). The 3rd World Farmer combines both elements mentioned above as it provides an opportunity to investigate problems that might emerge in a number of counties that are affected by multiple negative factors.
For instance, every turn a player experiences a new problem that is typical for the countries of the discussed region. The improved understanding of these problems is the key to the acquisition of relevant knowledge. Thus, multiple illnesses that emerge because of the poorly developed healthcare sector and infrastructure might result in the failure and prevent a player from winning a game. An educator can emphasize this fact by explaining what diseases are considered the most topical for various regions and attracting students’ attention to the necessity to provide appropriate care to individuals to improve the situation and guarantee the improved quality of life.
Another way in which the stimulator can be used, is the demonstration of the peculiarities of the legal framework as corruption, the activity of poachers, and unfair authorities are one of the most common problems emerging during the game. An educator’s main task is to explain the main causes of the appearance of these problems and the background that preconditions the formation of a particular environment (Delvin-Scherer & Sardone, 2010).
At the same time, individuals can discuss possible solutions to problems during the class as it will help to analyze the issue from different perspectives and improve knowledge related to the topic.
Altogether, the selected stimulator can be considered a potent tool that can be used in social studies classrooms as it outlines the majority of problems peculiar to the agricultural sector of 3rd world countries. The lack of education, poor access to health services, problematic relations with the government, corruption, and diseases become serious barriers impacting people and deteriorating the quality of their lives. The game helps students to understand the outstanding significance of these aspects, generate extensive knowledge related to them, and discuss looking for a possible solution which is the key to better understanding.
Reference
Delvin-Scherer, R., & Sardone, N. (2010). Digital simulation games for social studies classrooms. The Clearing House, 83, 138-144.
Stewart is concerned about the extent to which human beings are willing to mechanize animal farming to meet their needs. Human beings have a less ethical concern for animal lives and would sacrifice animal life and living condition to satisfy consumer demands.
However, there exists an economic and ethical conflict of whether to produce more food through the use of the cruel animal farming method or to apply alternative methods that would support ethical animal farming practices. Stewart realizes that these farming methods that guarantee the animals’ rights and reduce their suffering would seriously affect many families that depend on such animal farming practices. Besides, animals and in particular, livestock are considered property. Property ownership rights give the owners the right to manage their property by the standard practices.
Stewart has a limited choice that he may apply to reduce the suffering that the animals undergo since there are no options for the more humane slaughter of animals. Whichever method is applied to slaughter the animals they still suffer pain and anxiety during the process. Besides, “vegan activism” would not have any significant influence on factory farming (Sapontzis, 1987). Whichever way, human beings would have to meet their demands through the use of such cruel methods.
Moral Status of Animals
As human beings, we are faced with moral dilemmas of whether to compromise an animal’s health and environment to adequately satisfy our demands or to balance the environmental and health requirements of the animals. The calves’ lives are separated from that of their mothers and instead of feeding on their mothers’ milk, there are provided with food that contains chemicals to enable them mature faster. This does not provide the right environment for the animals’ growth. Animals require independent biotic communities where they are free to move and free to interact. Thus separating the calf from the mother is not morally right.
They also need to live in a society just like human beings. Animals also need to feed on natural food just like human beings. Providing chemicals in food to make them mature first for human beings’ consumption deprives the animals of important nutrients and vitamins, which are only found on natural vegetation and food. For example, separating the calf from the mother denies the calf the opportunity to obtain iron from the mother’s milk. It may lead to the calf suffering from anemia hence condemning the calf to sickness throughout their lives.
Reference List
Sapontzis, S. E. (1987). Morals, reasons and animals. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
