The Development of a Livestock Farm Management Information System (LFMIS)

Abstract

Many farmers do not use Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS) for various reasons, like lack of knowledge and the complexity of many available FMISs. To make available simpler FMIS and also aid farmers effectively and efficiently manage their farm activities, this project designed and developed a Livestock Farm Management Information System (LFMIS). Towards the development of the system, participants were chosen from the Khomas region of Namibia. The developed system is able to allow farmers to record livestock information and track their progress, manage farm resources with accounting capabilities, manage calendar events, and reminders of important farm events, such as treatment, connect with buyers, connect with relevant farm, stakeholders, and access seasonal progress, pest and production information. The developers are optimistic that the system would benefit farms and farmers by making them more efficient and effective. Considering that the system currently does not manage calendar events, and reminders of important farm events, such as treatment and does not also automatically alert famer of animal diseases, it is recommended that similar future systems or higher versions of this system incorporate the said features.