Web_Designer_UK__May_2018

FORM AND FFUNCTION
Below and opposite The offices of FFunction are clearly
those of data obsessives. The precise separation of the
plant life is no accident we think
“We tend to be early adopters of
new tools and plugins. There are new
ones coming out all the time, and we
like to give them a try. We draw user
flows in OmniGraffle. Also, we use
the Adobe suite a lot (naturally), and
Sketch for user interfaces. We
prototype using Invision and Craft,
and the designers send their files to
the devs via Zeplin. We also sketch
on old-fashioned paper a lot”
AUDRÉE LAPIERRE
Co-founder and creative director
MAIZE SEED SYSTEM MAP
Internal tool for organisation
The Maize Seed System
is an interactive map of
the agricultural and
trade network in sub-
Saharan Africa.
This data-driven
application is used for
sharing knowledge and
identifying connections
among system actors —
such as seed suppliers,
farmers, importers and
policymakers — in order
to better understand how
to improve investments,
programs, and interventions
within the maize seed
system as a whole.
The need for a stronger
and more impervious maize
network is more pressing
each year, as the effects of
climate change become
more evident worldwide.
Across much of sub-
Saharan Africa where maize
is the most important staple
crop, production is
primarily rain-fed, which
makes farmers vulnerable
to food insecurity.
Approximately 40 per cent
of Africa’s maize crop
suffers a loss in yield due
to drought conditions,
endangering the livelihoods
of millions of smallholder
farmers and several
hundred million consumers.
DAI, an International
development company, is
working with other agencies
and organisations including
USAID to establish a new
climate-resilient maize
initiative to help solve these
problems. Mapping out the
maize seed system as it
currently stands is an
important first step; the
next will be using the
information generated to
identify the right solutions,
and provide them.
Right FFunction created a
detailed map of the current
maize seed system as a vital first
step to improving supply
reliability of maize
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