An RFID Flock Management System for Rural Areas

Abstract

Siyakhula Living Lab (SLL) in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, is interested in prototyping various software solutions to get non-commercial farmers to integrate into the agro-processing industry, particularly in the wool and fiber industry. The work reported in this paper proposes one of such software solution. It an initial implementation of a Radio Frequency Identifier (RFID)-based flock management system. The project started with a review of existing RFID solutions for livestock as well as RFID technology itself. Then it designed, built and performed initial testing of the prototype of an Android mobile application which is supported by a backend application server called TeleWeaver. The application will allow testing the hypothesis that ICTs can help non-commercial farmers better manage their livestock to improve the quantity and quality of wool products produced. The research has paved the way for future work in the field of RFIDs for livestock control in marginalized rural areas.