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Mashamba & Zayi

Free access to technical resources for training advisors in rural areas

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Democratic Republic of Congo

Training Advisors


18 DataCups
13 PowerCups



Context :

In many areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, access to technical information in the agricultural field and for professional training is limited by the lack of physical libraries, as well as by difficult access to the internet and electricity.


Our partner ENABEL aims to promote 2 existing job-specific digital libraries, Mashamba (online) and Zayi (offline), with the ultimate goal of a complete transfer to local partners. Mashamba is available online, but ENABEL also wants to offer certain agricultural training institutions and advisory services the option of accessing it offline to make up for the lack of internet access and/or electricity.

Our service aims to support the provision of a shared technical repository, accessible both online and offline, and designed to be fully transferred to a Congolese partner. 

The end beneficiaries of this service are:

  • trainers and agricultural advisors working in support of farmers and agro-pastoralists
  • young learners enrolled in agricultural and rural training programs. 

1. A tailor-made, evolving documentation platform

Mashamba Library :

The shared digital library for agriculture and rural development is made up of 1,500 agricultural digital resources, freely accessible online via its prototype site Mashamba.org . Its aim is to be sustained and managed collaboratively by content editors from various institutions, such as the Department of Agriculture (DANTIC), the Departement of Rural Development,...etc. 

It was made natively under OmekaS, an entirely Open Source software, made to organize, describe and credit document collections. 

This choice guarantees the absence of a proprietary licence, tangible technical sustainability, and adaptability to the needs of local institutions. A platform without hard limits, and that can grow at the same pace as the people using it.

Mashamba.org's current hosting is outsourced to our parent company, Mind&Go, specialised in eco-responsible hosting : servers located in France, ISO-certified infrastructures, and a very low PUE, guaranteeing high performance with a lowered environmental impact.

  

Zayi library :

As part of the Resicodi project, a library was developed, hosting 316 professional training videos covering topics such as  agriculture, sewing, mechanics, cooking, construction, renewable energy, masonry, handiwork, computer basics, etc...

We have repurposed all the resources from this former library, which had previously been hosted on WordPress—a general publishing platform, albeit not designed to manage hundreds of specialized documents. 

The move to Omeka S offers us a solid, easier-to- maintain foundation, built to accommodate new types of content in the long term. This new library has been named Zayi, which means "wisdom" and "knowledge in Kikongo. 

To learn more about our contribution towards creating and sustaining specialized digital libraries, check out this link...           

2. A one-click gateway to all of your content

To provide a one-click access to these different libraries, we have integrated our embedded DataCup gateway, customized with the project's applications. This user interface, available on DataCup devices, is responsive and improves accessibility.

Learn more

Offline and Electricity-Free Access

To ensure offline access to these two job-specific libraries, as well as the content available on Kiwix, we provided 18 DataCups, our sturdy and 100% offline-first hardware solution. These 18 DataCups were loaded with our captive portal – which opens upon the first connection to guide users –, our embedded gateway and the specialized libraries — totaling over 2,200 agricultural and professional resources in various formats (videos, audio files, documents, images, etc.).

We are also implementing our update mechanism, which is simple and can be carried out directly on-site by administrators. This allows new digital content to be added online, and then integrated into the DataCups deployed on field, as long as these devices can be temporarily reconnected to the internet, using an RJ45 cable.

To make up for power outages, the DataCup can be self-sufficient for 7 hours thanks to its integrated battery. These batteries were bought locally by ENABEL.

Discover the DataCup...

Solar power in rural areas

Some of the institutions that use our solutions are located in more remote rural areas with no access to electricity. That is why ENABEL turned to our PowerCup solution, which allows us to charge up to 2 batteries at the same time.

5. Skillset transfer, and partner strengthening

In October of 2025, we finished a mission in Kinshasa, which allows us to :

  • control the quality and functionality ​of the delivered equipment 
  • carry out a skills transfer in favor of IT teams and ENABEL's innovation unit, 

This training covers both the operation of the DataCup and the PowerCup, as well as managing the interface and the addition of new digital content to the different libraries. We also provided in-depth training on hardware update and maintenance processes to empower local teams.

Highlight : the first connexion​

During our sessions, the first connection to the DataCup is a highlight of the training. Whether on a mobile device or a PC, experiencing live and fluid browsing—just like on the Internet but without being connected to the World Wide Web—truly demonstrates the system’s potential.

Full management transfer : local sovereignty and autonomy

To ensure the sustainability of the services deployed as part of this project, a second initiative focused on the full management transfer is planned within the next four years :

1) We will support the migration of online libraries to a new hosting server located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This will ensure local digital sovereignty. Our approach is simple: the principles we choose for ourselves—transparency, independence, and sustainability— are also the ones we wish for the institutions that use our solutions.

2) We will also train the partner selected by ENABEL on how to update the DataCups.

Closing statement

Thanks to an approach based entirely on open hardware, offline-first solutions, and a gradual transfer of skillsets and governance, this project lays the groundwork for genuine autonomy for Congolese institutions.

It is therefore designed with a logic of total sustainability, with no technological dependencies or proprietary locks.

Over the next few years, we will continue to provide remote consulting support for the development and deployment of job-specific libraries. Our services also include supporting hours for customizing the Mashamba library and adding additional features.  

The second mission, scheduled upon the project’s conclusion, will ensure the full management transfer (hosting, content, updates, and maintenance) to a Congolese partner, eliminating any technological dependence and ensuring full local governance of the system.