Disclaimer:
Please be aware that the content herein has not been peer reviewed. It consists of personal reflections, insights, and learnings of the contributor(s). It may not be exhaustive, nor does it aim to be authoritative knowledge.
Title
Please provide a name for your action learning plan.
Transitioning Agriculture Using the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence
Challenge statement
Challenge type: If you are working on multiple challenges, please indicate if this is your "big bet" or "exploratory" challenge.
Please note: we ask you to only submit a maximum of 3 challenges - 1x Big Bet, 2x Exploratory. Each challenge must be submitted individually.
EXPLORATORY
Challenge statement: What is your challenge? (Please answer in specific terms: "Our challenge is that...”.)
Our challenge is this: how the use of emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) can improve the efficiency and productivity of agricultural production and address our major challenges in the country: severe drought and food insecurity.
Background: What is the history of your challenge? What is causing or driving it? Who is involved? How does the current situation look like? What undesired effects does it produce?
Cape Verde was one of the countries hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Unemployment doubled to 76.9% due to the closure of several businesses, mainly in the tourism sector. Several families lost their income and access to some basic resources, forcing many local migrants, mainly from the tourist islands, to return to their islands of origin.
The frequent droughts in the archipelago, the challenges faced by COVID and the rise in food prices have left thousands of Cape Verdean family's food insecure. In Cape Verde, agriculture is one of the most important primary activities and it is now necessary to invest in its valorisation, innovation and to rethink its agricultural production policy in order to face the successive increases in the factors of food production, a consequence of the economic and financial crisis that the world is facing today, with a view to increasing self-sufficiency and reducing food imports.
Quantitative evidence: What (official) data sources do you have on this challenge that better exemplifies the importance and urgency of this frontier challenge? You can add text, a link, or a picture.
Há 46 mil famílias em situação de insegurança alimentar em Cabo Verde - Há 46 mil famílias em situação de insegurança alimentar em Cabo Verde - Sociedade - Santiago Magazine
Qualitative evidence: What weak signals have you recently spotted that characterizes its urgency? Please provide qualitative information that better exemplifies the importance and urgency of this frontier challenge. You can add text, a link, or a picture.
Governo assegura estar tudo a fazer para impedir a insegurança alimentar em Cabo Verde - Bing video
Value proposition: What added value or unique value proposition is your Accelerator Lab bringing to solving this challenge? Why is it your Lab that needs to work on this challenge and not other actors within UNDP, other stakeholders in the country respectively? Why is it worth investing resources to this challenge?
However, smart solutions imported from developed countries do not fit well with the needs of Cape Verde. Why is that? Firstly, because we are not a country with a good infrastructure. And secondly, because Cape Verde is an archipelago of mountainous islands, where most of the monitoring sites are far away from each other, and mainly in rural areas with little or no installed infrastructure, this makes it difficult to communicate over long distances and to power sensors. Therefore, in this project we propose to investigate the feasibility of implementing WSN in Cape Verde. And what adjustments should be made? What contribution can WSN make to priority areas in Cape Verde, such as water and agriculture?
Short “tweet” summary: We would like to tweet what you are working on, can you summarize your challenge in a maximum of 280 characters?
In terms of agriculture, Cape Verde has suffered from severe drought and limited agricultural resources, which has contributed to increasing food insecurity in the country. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warns that around 20% of the Cape Verdean population is still food insecure.
Partners
Who are your top 5 partners for this challenge? Please submit from MOST to LEAST important and state Name, Sector and a brief description of the (intended) collaboration.
Please state the name of the Parter:
University of Cabo Verde, Public sector (Carry out studies and collect data on the feasibility of using emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence)
Prime Botics, Private sector (Training drone pilots for the producers' association of Ribeira de São Filipe.)
Associação de Produtores da Ribeira de São Filipe, a non-governmental organization (The implementation of the pilot project will take place in the Ribeira de São Filipe in the urban area of the city of Praia.
What sector does our partner belong to?
Civil Society
Please provide a brief description of the collaboration.
The aim of this collaboration is to study the feasibility of using new technologies such as technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve the efficiency and productivity of and efficiency of agricultural production. Specifically, this project will use sensor networks to wirelessly to monitor soil, weather conditions, water availability for irrigation, and drones to monitor crop growth, and based on the data collected, we will combine artificial intelligence models to define strategies to increase production. To validate our hypothesis, we will carry out a pilot project in Ribeira de São Filipe in the urban area of the city of Praia.
Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?
Yes
Learning questions
Learning question: What is your learning question for this challenge? What do you need to know or understand to work on your challenge statement?
1.What is the best solution for powering sensor nodes in WSN?
2. Which technologies to use for communication between sensor nodes to maximise range without increasing cost?
3. Which communication protocol guarantees security and reliability?
4. What contribution can WSN make to priority areas in Cape Verde, such as water and agriculture?
To what stage(s) in the learning cycle does your learning question relate?
Test, Grow
Usage of methods: Relating to your choice above, how will you use your methods & tools for this learning question? What value do these add in answering your learning question?
Specifically, in this project we will use sensor networks to wirelessly to monitor soil, weather conditions and water availability for irrigation, and irrigation, and drones to monitor crop growth, and based on the data collected, we will combine artificial intelligence models to define strategies to increase production.
Existing data gaps: Relating to your choice above, what existing gaps in data or information do these new sources of data addressing? What value do these add in answering your learning question?
In this project, we propose the use of artificial intelligence to identify pests in crops on the islands of Santiago. In the context of our research, we do not have a database of Cape Verdean crops and the pests that affect them, nor a control database, and this is proving to be our biggest problem. Therefore, in this research we intend to focus on the creation of a training and validation database.
Closing
Early leads to grow: Think about the possible grow phase for this challenge - who might benefit from your work on this challenge or who might be the champions in your country that you should inform or collaborate with early on to help you grow this challenge?
With this project we hope to increase production, create mechanisms for managing water and soil health, and create a database for artificial intelligence models that will allow the study to be extended to other agricultural areas in the country and/or other farming communities.
END OF ACTION LEARNING PLAN: Thank you! The form saves automatically and your submission has been recorded. You may now exit this window.
2Zero hunger
9Industry, innovation and infrastructure
13Climate action
15Life on land
17Partnerships for the goals
