Ok. Ok. It turns out that I am not the original Cyber Shepherd, that honor goes to actual Shepherds in Africa who are using new technology to improve their farming and shepherding traditions:
Here is a quote from Science-In-Africa :
“How can one help rural communities [in Senegal, for example] to adopt more efficient livestock management practices and to protect pastures that are threatened, in the long term, by overexploitation? (…)
Several of these herders have also been equipped with cell phones to speed up the exchange of information and provide them with an “early warning system” against pending disasters. As well, some herders have received IT training so that they can access information available on the Web. All the equipment needed for Internet connection has been installed in each pastoral unit, where real-time information can be accessed through a site that was built for them in July 2003.
Nicknamed “cyber shepherd,” the site (whose name in the local Peule language is “Gallé Aynabé” or “herders’ house”) offers maps showing which sites are occupied and which have green vegetation, together with an estimated “carrying capacity,” indicating the number of animals that can be pastured there without risk to the environment and its resources. “Gallé Aynabé” also devotes pages to ways of recognizing and dealing with animal diseases.”
This struck me as a rare instance of technology bolstering rather than breaking a pre-existing agrarian, and in some cases nomadic tradition.
