African Farmer: Online Game

Launched in April 2014 by Future Agricultures and the University of Sussex, African Farmer is a free, open source online game that "simulates the complex decisions and uncertainties faced by small-scale farmers living in Sub-Saharan Africa." It is designed to engage students, development practitioners, and anyone interested in the challenges faced by farmers in economically poor countries. The game is available in two versions - single player and multi-player options.

In the game, players manage a farming household in a village, they make decisions on what to grow, what to buy and how to feed a family – and see the results of those decisions. African Farmer presents players with a range of challenges, from food prices, diets, and work, to more unpredictable chance events like weather and disease.

African Farmer was created by developers from the Department of Informatics at the University of Sussex and researchers from the Future Agricultures Consortium whose secretariat is based at the Institute of Development Studies. It was supported by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) through a grant to Future Agricultures, with additional support from the United Kingdom Economic and Social Research Council through a grant to the STEPS Centre. The game is open source and anyone wishing to develop or adapt the game can download the source code.

Click herefor more information about the game and to access updates.
Click here to play the single game online.
Click here to play the multiplayer game online.