Dear Review Committee,
Our organization is seeking a grant of $2,000,000 to support a project that aims to improve food security in West, East, and Southern Africa by using technology and open source solutions to revamp the agricultural industry. This project will focus on providing small-scale farmers with access to resources such as vertical farms, renewable energy, and open source ecological solutions in order to increase crop yields and improve food security. The project will also involve building a platform that allows communities to explore and test technology options, and providing local employment and training to ensure that the project is sustainable in the long-term.
The target communities for this project are small, rural communities in West, East, and Southern Africa that are isolated and have limited access to technology and resources. To connect with these communities and ensure that the project meets their needs, we will work with local businesses and farmers, and involve members of the community in the innovation process. Our goal is to shift the use of land from large surface areas to more sustainable and efficient vertical farming solutions, and to develop an energy efficient infrastructure for processing and delivering farm products to end consumers.
In the next 1-2 years, we hope to accomplish the following outcomes:
Shift the use of land from large surface areas to vertical farming solutions that are open to the environment and can reduce the impact of pests.
Involve rural designers in the innovation process and help them feel a part of the technology ecosystem.
Develop a marketing network to connect farm products to end consumers at a competitive price, and create an energy efficient solution for processing food on site.
Develop energy efficient water extraction and cleaning solutions, and generate clean water and energy as byproducts of the farming process.
Provide local employment and training to ensure the sustainability of the project.
Increase crop yields and improve food security for small-scale farmers.
Contribute to the long-term development
Our organization addresses the issues of limited access to technology and resources, and low productivity in the agricultural industry in rural communities. To address these issues, we plan to use the internet to connect farmers with customers and provide them with access to technology and resources that can improve their productivity and safety. We will educate farmers on the technologies we introduce and provide them with a lease-to-own option, which will allow them to try out the technology before committing to it. We will also involve the community in the development process through a voting system that allows them to request specific features and functions in open source designs.
The intersection of technology and digital rights movements with these issues is twofold. First, by providing rural communities with access to technology and resources, we can help them improve their livelihoods and become more self-sufficient. Second, by involving the community in the development process and using open source designs, we can ensure that the technology meets their needs and is developed in a more democratic manner. We also plan to use wireless local and bridged services to deliver asset tracking and system management to facilities and logistics solutions, which will help improve efficiency and transparency in the supply chain.