Boosting Food Security and Climate Adaptation in Cuba through Smart Irrigation Systems

The Antwerp Maritime Academy (AMA), through its research group Sustainable Transport, has been
collaborating with the Universidad Central “Marta Abreu” de Las Villas (UCLV) since 2019 on a shared
research line focused on developing low‐cost dataloggers. AMA has applied these open‐source
systems in a variety of contexts, including air quality monitoring aboard ships, monitoring of wellbeing‐
related parameters, motion monitoring, and integration into low‐cost research buoys. The
collaboration began with the VLIR‐UOS short initiative project AIR@PORT in 2019 and has since
grown into a strong and productive partnership that combines academic expertise with practical,
field‐based innovation.
The Faculty of Applied Engineering at the University of Antwerp contributes to this proposal through
its research group M4S – Modelling for Sustainability, which collaborates with the Royal
Meteorological Institute of Belgium (RMI). M4S applies advanced digital modelling techniques to
assess and support sustainability‐driven decision‐making across disciplines. By integrating technical,
environmental, and economic parameters, the group studies how decisions impact sustainability
outcomes within real‐world constraints. Their expertise, bolstered by partnerships like that with RMI,
enables the development of practical, data‐informed solutions that balance ecological goals with
operational and economic feasibility.
Universidad Central "Marta Abreu" de Las Villas (UCLV), located near Santa Clara, Cuba, is the
country’s most interdisciplinary university. For over 25 years, its faculty and students have actively
participated in VLIR‐funded projects, including the doctoral studies of local promoter Alain Martínez
(PhD, VUB) and co‐promoter Daniellys Alejo (PhD, UA). The Automation, Robotics, and Perception
Group (GARP) at UCLV specialises in developing embedded systems for control applications and
drones, leveraging open‐source hardware and software to reduce costs and enhance accessibility.
Their work includes low‐cost sensor systems for air quality and meteorological monitoring, supported
by calibration algorithms, as well as drone‐based multispectral imaging for detecting sugarcane crop
diseases, an innovation highly relevant to this project’s research objectives.