FLORENCE, Italy – Accademia del Caffè Espresso, CISCO and PNAT have launched a project in Tanzania called ConSenso. The research project aims to discover how climate change impacts the health of Arabica coffee plants in the Utengule Coffee Farm. Researchers will use data generated by a series of specially designed, solar-powered sensors to develop actions that can improve the yield of the farm, increase its sustainability, and make the best use of every drop of water to irrigate it.
Longer-term, the researchers plan to develop guidelines to be used by the global coffee industry to help deal with the challenges imposed by climate change.
Tanzania is among the top 20 coffee producing countries in the world and is already experiencing severe weather as a result of climate change, with erratic rainfall and prolonged droughts.
To investigate the impact of changing weather, the PNAT team together with Accademia del Caffè Espresso developed IoT sensors, placed directly on the plants, to constantly monitor internal plant parameters like health and hydration. Meanwhile, environmental probes will track parameters such as moisture or the presence of pathogens.
A second aim of the project is also to calculate and visualize the farm’s carbon storage in real-time. To achieve this, further sensors will monitor the benefits shade trees and coffee plants add in terms of CO2 and particulate matter absorption.
The combined data, from 52 solar powered sensors, a solar powered weather station, and eight plant-growth monitors, will then be transmitted across a Cisco-designed local radio-type connection (using LoRaWAN technology*) where it will be combined and analyzed. These data will then be transmitted to PNAT’s data center located in Florence, Italy.
Cisco is responsible for the entire connectivity of the project and has also provided Collaboration Solutions that the staff in Tanzania and Italy use for their daily work. Researchers in Florence will further analyze the data and develop key insights into how plants respond to changes in environmental conditions. By studying the huge volume of information obtained, the researchers can build guidelines that can be used and validated by other coffee producers around the world.
“There are so many uses for Internet of Things technology that we have yet to explore. This project is a fantastic example of a use case that allows us to generate data that can help us make better sustainability decisions today, capturing valuable information and supporting even the most innovative experiments,” commented Angelo Fienga, Director Sustainability Solutions EMEA at Cisco. “We are proud to partner with a project like ConSenso by creating a secure platform and network to support its goals.”
Professor Stefano Mancuso, founder of PNAT, said: “Thanks to the ConSenso project we were able to create a remote monitoring system that allows us to check on the growth and physiological characteristics of a coffee cultivation. With this technology we’ll be able to follow in real time the growth of different crops, adapting practices and treatments to environmental changes.”
Massimo Battaglia, Coffee Research Leader at Accademia del Caffè Espresso added: “In Tanzania, and in the Mbeya region in particular, water has become an increasingly critical resource for coffee cultivation over the past 15 years. Climate change has shortened the rainy season so pumping and irrigation systems are now used, extracting water from nearby rivers. This is a unique project that makes us very proud because it allows us to adapt agricultural practices to the new and real needs of plants. From now on it will be the plants that will suggest us how to deal with the new climatic and environmental challenges.”
* LoRaWAN is a local radio transmission technology characterized by long-distance transmission and low power consumption.
About Accademia del Caffè Espresso
Accademia del Caffè Espresso is a cultural hub dedicated to the world of Italian espresso coffee, within which analysis, research and dissemination on coffee culture are carried out. The project stems from the desire of La Marzocco, a Florentine company that produces professional coffee machines, to create a humanistic model that can be a point of reference for Italian culture in the world. Accademia del Caffè Espresso is located a few kilometers from Florence, at the original Officine de La Marzocco, transforming itself from a place of industrial production to a center of education, culture and innovation.
About La Marzocco
La Marzocco, founded in 1927 by the Bambi brothers, from the beginning has specialized in the artisanal production of espresso coffee machines for bars with a focus on qualitỳ, in-cup result and style. In more than 90 years of history, the Florentine company has introduced a series of revolutionary technologies and patents, becoming a leader in design and innovation in the field of traditional coffee machines. All models, including the latest for the end consumer, are handcrafted and exported to morè than 100 countries where they are found in the world’s best coffee shops, finest restaurants and homes.
About PNAT
Pnat (Project Nature) is a multidisciplinary company founded as a spin-off of the University of Florence by Prof. Stefano Mancuso, director of the International Laboratory of Plant Neurobiology (LINV) one of the world’s leading plant research centers. PNAT designs and develops various systems inspired by the latest knowledge on plants, including sensors for plant monitoring and stability, air purification systems using a botanical filter (Air Factory), and nature-based projects that use plants to improve the livability of urban spaces through space planning and design.
The company has won international recognition from institutions such as UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) and UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe). In 2015, it won the “Innovative Ideas and Technologies for Agribusiness” award bestowed by the United Nations and CNR, the “New Entrepreneurial Talents” award bestowed by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, and the “Ideas for Change” award bestowed by the United Nations (2015).
About Cisco
Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) is the worldwide technology leader that securely connects everything to make anything possible. Cisco’s purpose is to power an inclusive future for all by helping their customers reimagine their applications, power hybrid work, secure their enterprise, transform their infrastructure, and meet their sustainability goals.
