Data Driven Farming Prize: A Competition To Improve Value From Agricultural Productivity

Feed the Future, a U.S government global hunger and food security initiative is set to organize Data-Driven Farming competition in Nepal. More than 70% of the population practice agriculture in the country and yet Nepal struggles to produce adequate food supply. The dearth of agriculture production can be attributed to lack of knowledge and data among the farmers. With an aim to create awareness about scientific methods of farming and make data accessible to the farmers, Feed the Future will award the best decision-making system targeted towards Nepali Farmers and Nepali agriculture in the competition. With the right data at the right time, farmers can improve on the traditional farming methods in order to promote their production.

Feed The Future along with partners Microsoft Innovation Center (Nepal), GODAN, ICIMOD, and CIMMYT are organizing the competition.

Call for Participants

The deadline for the submission of application form is April 6, 2017. The entry forms can be submitted online at datadrivenfarming.challenges.org. All eligible submissions will be calculated and judged to reach a decision on the 10 Finalists. Those 10 finalists will be selected and invited to participate in the co-creation event which will take place in Nepal towards the end of May. The co-creation event is two or three days event where the finalists get the chance to meet each other and be guided by the experts through practical workshops.

Development Plans and Testing

The development plans and testing will take place between June and August 2017. Finalists will be provided eight weeks of time to develop their prototypes after the co-creation event. During this time, user testing will need to take place. This involves CIMMYT testing the Finalist’s prototypes with Nepali farmers. Finalists will also be required to complete a development plan as part of their final submission. The deadline to submit the final development plan is August 4, 2017. Each team will receive $2,500 to support testing and development of their prototype.

Final Award Event

The Final Award Event will occur at the end of August or middle of September 2017. Two representatives will be invited for each finalist solution. Finalists will have the chance to present their prototype and plans to the audience. The Awards will be announced at an evening function.

Final presentations

During the final presentation, the finalists will get a chance to present their solution to the judges directly. The finalists will be provided with 10-15 minutes time for presentation, followed by a questions and answers session from the judges.

Feed The Future will be awarding $300000 cash in prizes for Data-driven solutions that Support Food Security in Nepal. The judging panel will select 2 winners who will receive awards of $100,000 for the most viable solutions. Two additional solutions that demonstrate significant potential will win awards of $50,000 each

For more details and to apply, visit: DataDrivenFarming.Challenges.org