Cardano Africa SmartFarming DApp

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem.

Create a photo taking DApp using AI, ML, Robotics to improve efficiency of farm production. Conduct user research and behavioral data to prototype a mobile app for SmartFarming in the coffee industry.

[GENERAL] Summarize your relevant experience.

80 years Coffee Farming experience, Agriculture Data Scientist, Plutus Pioneers, Atala Prism Pioneer, Entrepreneurs, Marketer, Community Mobilizer, CAs, VCA, Challenge Team Members, Boostcamp Alumn, Project Management & Ed Tech, Funded Proposers, 20 Years experience in Accounting

[GENERAL] Requested funds in USD.

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

The problem I’m seeing is East Africa has

Coffee in EA has huge potential/ raw materials

Urban farmers or city dwelling people with farms upcountry struggle to keep up with activities on the farm. 

Inefficient systems lead to loss of profit and decreased coffee output.

Systems in the EastAfricanCommunity are behind the rest of the world

The Coffee Industry has been around for a long time (129yrs), there may be resistance to new processes.

Limitations to how much information you could get from people already profiting from the current systems

Slow Adoption of new Ideas

Local conditions. Environmental conditions, Access to capital, access to business practices, social/ cultural practices.

EA coffee growers struggle to keep growing supporting older coffee businesses/ mature farms

The problem I’m seeing is East Africa has

• Coffee in EA has huge potential/ raw materials
• Urban farmers or city dwelling people with farms upcountry struggle to keep up with activities on the farm. 
• Inefficient systems lead to loss of profit and decreased coffee output.
• Systems in the EastAfricanCommunity are behind the rest of the world
• The Coffee Industry has been around for a long time (129yrs), there may be resistance to new processes.
• Limitations to how much information you could get from people already profiting from the current systems
• Local conditions. Environmental conditions, Access to capital, access to business practices, social/ cultural practices.
• EA coffee growers struggle to keep growing supporting older coffee businesses/ mature farms

There are plenty of people who live in cities with have farms upcountry, who need to monitor the activities of their farm. Get farm managers to record info about their activity on the farm.

The solution is, leapfrog straight into the future. Trying to catch up with systems from the last century will leave Coffee Growth in EA trailing behind. Working with Cardano to create Smart Farming systems is an exciting opportunity.

We are Focusing on coffee because its been affected by climate change most prone to changing climate conditions. 

[Put sensors in 3 Farms. One in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Farms near mountainous regions are rich in fertile soil. The farms around Mount Kenya, Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Elgon have grown coffee successfully for years. Localised areas that grow coffee. Wifi is scarce, but the internet is available through bundles. Often these farms are distant from towns and cities. Farmers have access to smartphones but Data connectivity and Speed of internet are expensive.

Because we are in a rural environment we need to get reliable info, but there's problems with power, internet coverage etc, We need to get high speed connectivity into these regions as cheaply as possible - put a Starlink into our farm- connect environmental sensors to the Starlink and have a stake pool (Full node) running on a local machine that's all in one bundle. 

Smart Farming DApp.

Use Starlink to solve connectivity issues in coffee growing areas across the equator. Run a smart farming information system in a decentralized way. Increasing the efficiency of food production. ]

Information can be used to improve the practices of a collection of farmers, increase productivity. If we build veracity into the data and stores it becomes easier to record the activity and what's actually going on on the farm. Allowing farmers to apply for the certificate of origin and allowing more coffee to be exported therefore increasing the prices that people can get. Possible to get volunteer carbon credits. Fits into UN sustainability goals. Farm workers will have an identity, Because they are certifying by submitting information into the farm information system. 

The answer: Smart Farming. 4.0 green revolution in the field of agriculture combining agriculture methodologies with technology. Sensors & Actuators, Internet of Things (IoT), Robotics and Drones to achieve desired efficiencies of production with managed cost.

Connect the Urban Dwelling Farm owner to real time information on his farm. The Smart Farming system would have/include/mean the sensors, the internet and the photos. 

https://www.seeedstudio.com/reServer-c-1687.html

Put some UX research into machine learning by image processing to improve the farm processing practices by reducing the amount of data that has to be collected.

Conduct user research and behavioral data to design to prototype a mobile app for smart farming in the coffee industry.

Users: urban farmer, farm worker.

Create a farm information system so Urban farmers can monitor their farm. Info about quality of farm production. Simplifying the input data, Minimising data entry means that its easy for the farmer to input the data, easing data collection.

We could begin by adding the LoRaWan Vegetable Gardening Monitoring Kit from seeedstudio. This will give us information about the Air Temp, Humidity, Sunlight, Soil Moisture, Temp and Electrical Conductivity. Soil samples would add information about the nutrient content and pH level.

https://www.seeedstudio.com/Vegetable-Gardening-Monitoring-Kit-p-5394.html

App that takes photo of plants, identifies plants, identifies disease, tells you what diseases you have on the farm and how to heal plants

DApp Use Case: Taking photos of plants. As a starting point for our smart farming system. Machine learning by image processing to improve the farm processing Practices by reducing the amount of data that has to be collected. Photos are evidence that certain things have been done. Production process, drying beds, sorting, weight etc simple input data. 

Farm manager collects information through a photo taking DApp. Machine learning processes the images and identifies Plant type/variety, age, disease, leaf health. 

DApp combines a daily report. Submit info to Cardano Testnet from gateway (using encryptions); RWEAVE for the data. This is collated with the information from the environment sensors. Taking photos of the plants, leaves, will give us information about the Plant type/variety, location, age, access to sunlight, water, disease.

During Harvest we could monitor Number of seeds picked, production process. Possibly put QR codes in drying beds. Possibly use smart scales to measure the amount of coffee picked. 

1. Planting the seed
2. Harvesting and picking
3. Sorting and Selecting
4. Pulping the cherries
5. Fermenting
6. Drying
7. Storing
8. Milling
9. Grading/Cupping
10. Distributing
11. Roasting
12. Packaging
13. Grinding
14. Brewing
15. Drinking

SSI information on the coffee picker. Tracking, timestamps and traceability, Touches on digital identity, regulation as code, transparency for the manufacturing process. Farm workers will have an identity, Because they are certifying by submitting information into the farm information system. 

Workers won't want to spend their minutes sending information to farm owners. But if free high speed internet was available…

https://www.starlink.com/ satellite broadband connectivity. We could get an RV broadband unit for 99USD per month. RV unit can go anywhere, will run off dual volt batteries. Solving issues of reliability and power. Could run off solar.

Lora. Long range Wireless. https://lora-alliance.org/

Can be run on coin cell batteries. Can send information up to 50 miles.

Can be used to relay transactions.

https://www.seeedstudio.com/Vegetable-Gardening-Monitoring-Kit-p-5394.html 

Smart hub Lora Gateway: Lora receiver in the Gateway, Which is also a Wifi hub, which then connects the sensors out in the field. Hub could be a raspberry pi etc. Dashboard server running on local machines. Its the farmer’s data, its the farmer’s environment. Daily updates are available through smartphone realtime connection to the farm. Allowing the Farmer to make informed decisions remotely.

The future of this proposal:

Once we gather this information an alternate source of income is to get volunteer carbon credits. Voluntary carbon credits are a recognised mechanism that allows individuals and companies to invest in environmental projects that contribute to reducing the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere.

Robotics plus: Machine vision. We could upgrade the sensors to small robots that trot around the farm taking photos of coffee trees.

Certification period is a recurrent repeated activity. Currently, information goes into a black hole and there is disillusionment. 

Provide traceability. If we increase certifications. Timestamp and traceability, tracking, We'll have the ability to begin competing with Industry code of practice providing traceability for certifications and Issuance of clean coffee movement. A Certificate of Origin (CO) is an important international trade document that certifies that goods in a particular export shipment are wholly obtained, produced, manufactured or processed in a particular country. Issuance of clean coffee movement.

https://iccwbo.org/resources-for-business/certificates-of-origin/ 

[IMPACT] Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.

Environment Solutions that help to solve environmental issues

Promoting sustainable agriculture

double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers

Environment - Total number of users, total CO2 sequestered, amount of awareness being produced, number of people changing an environmentally damaging habit

By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality

Nation governance systems - Amount of population onboarded, amount of costs saved due to new solution, security difficulty improvements over previous approach

Existing products or integrations - What products or integrations already exist in the ecosystem? What are the core differences between the proposal being presented and those existing ones and why will that provide impact to the ecosystem?

https://www.seeedstudio.com/

https://worldmobile.io/

https://www.starlink.com/ 

https://lora-alliance.org/ 

Technical requirements - Does the Cardano ecosystem have the right tools, libraries and SDKs for the idea to be feasible? What needs to be introduced or improved for the proposal to fully reach its potential? Yes, with the Vasil Hardfork we will be able to complete the proposal, and adapt with any changes. 

 I think the Cardano Ecosystem is mature enough now to take on real time real world application. - All the integrations we are testing now have been through rigorous testing and are suitable for execution right now. There are enough pieces of infrastructure, applications and other integrations available that we would need for this suggested proposal to have a strong chance of gaining adoption. The SmartFarming DApp will increase the utility & adoption of Cardano.

Success looks like:

A novel and viable application and product/DApp getting built on top of Cardano attracting users on the ground.

Integrations with other existing services, products, and protocols that improve the end-user experience whether that's giving the user more options or making something easier to use that benefits the wider ecosystem.

Existing products or integrations - What products or integrations already exist in the ecosystem? What are the core differences between the proposal being presented and those existing ones and why will that provide impact to the ecosystem?

https://www.seeedstudio.com/

https://worldmobile.io/

https://www.starlink.com/ 

https://lora-alliance.org/ 

Seeedstudio: Vegetable-Gardening-Monitoring-Kit- measures Soil moisture, Sunlight intensity, Soil electrical conductivity, Soil temperature, Wind, Rainfall.

Lora: Long range Wireless.

Can be run on coin cell batteries. Can send information up to 50 miles.

Can be used to relay transactions.

Smart hub Lora Gateway: Lora receiver in the Gateway, Which is also a Wifi hub, which then connects the sensors out in the field. Hub could be a raspberry pi etc. Dashboard server running on local machines. Its the farmer’s data, its the farmer’s environment. Daily updates are available through smartphone realtime connection to the farm. Allowing the Farmer to make informed decisions remotely.

Starlink: We could get an RV broadband unit for monthly subscription. RV unit can go anywhere, will run off dual volt batteries. Solving issues of reliability and power. Could run off equator solar.

We could look into collaborating with World mobile for the Tanzanian farm.

Technical requirements - Does the Cardano ecosystem have the right tools, libraries and SDKs for the idea to be feasible? What needs to be introduced or improved for the proposal to fully reach its potential?

Yes, with the Vasil Hardfork we will be able to complete the proposal, and adapt with any changes. 

    Ecosystem maturity requirements - Why is this product or integration suitable for execution right now? Are there enough pieces of infrastructure, applications or other integrations available that would be needed for this suggested proposal to have a strong chance of gaining adoption? For instance, if you were making a professional social network DApp, do the right identity tools and wallets exist to make a professional network feasible? increasing the utility & adoption of Cardano.

[IMPACT] What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?

In a rural environment we need to get reliable info, but there's problems with power, internet coverage etc, We need to get high speed connectivity into these regions as cheaply as possible

Local conditions, drought, flooding

Environmental conditions, climate change, deforestation, biodiversity

Access to capital

Access to local business practices

Social/ cultural practices around collecting information. Most people won't volunteer information, there is a cultural element about changing practices. Start on a small scale. With 3 farms that have experience growing coffee and test the theory.

While this proposal is about coffee in East Africa, the potential of SmatFarming could be applied ato the Coffee industry in coffee growing areas across the equator. Brazil, Columbia, Cameroon, Indonesia, Vietnam etc.

There is also potential for Smart Farming to be applied in the Palm, Cocoa, Mango, Avocado and Sugar Industries.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed plan, including timeline and key milestones for delivering your proposal.

Farming takes time, so working with farmers in the industry with established farms will help.

• Put the sensors in 3 farms
• refine setup
• gather data points
• LORA encryption on to testnet
• Mainnet
• Research

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.

Equipment & Shipping

3 farms in Kenya, Uganda Tanzania

LoRaWAN Gateway $ 519 x3 [1557]

LoRaWan Sensor 60 + 60 + 140 = 260 x3 [780]

Starlink Hardware cost 600 x3 [1800]

subscription cost 110 per month x12 x3 [3960]

[8097]

Shipping [500]

Research gathering People 500 x3 [1500]

Farmer 400 x3 [1200]

Farm Manager 200 x 3months x 3 [1800]

Project Manager [1000]

Lawyer [600]

Total [14697]

Request $ 15000

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide details of the people who will work on the project.

Jackie: @Namwanje 80 years of experience in coffee farming, 20 Years experience in Accounting, Community Member, Community Advisor, Entrepreneur, Marketer Community Mobilizer

Angela: @AWG Atala Prism Pioneer, Haskell Plutus Lecturer, Eastern Town Hall Team Member, Gimbalabs PPBL Team Member, CA, VCA, Plutus Pioneer, Challenge Team Member, Boostcamp Alumn

Evans: @babaelliot, Catalyst CA , active participant of general and Eastern Town Hall, BSc Social Protection( IFM/ Institute of finance management ), Trainer/Mentor at RFFXTZ Co Ltd, Youtuber and Content Creator

Anne: @Shirogat CA, Microsoft Certified Educator, 30 years Experience in Project Management and Ed Tech, Funded Proposer, Boostcamp Alumn, Entrepreneur

Meet the team:

[FEASIBILITY] If you are funded, will you return to Catalyst in a later round for further funding? Please explain why / why not.

Yes, this is a proposal for a preliminary round of funding to research the feasibility of the idea. We will follow with more proposals to fund further development.

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or any member of your team working on any other proposals in this Fund9?

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or your team working on any other proposals from previous Funds?

[AUDITABILITY] Please describe what you will measure to track your project's progress, and how will you measure these?

3 Farms with the Seeedstar, LORA, Starlink products installed and functioning. Daily reports on from Vegetable-Gardening-Monitoring-Kit from 3 farms from 3 countries for 3 months. Including information on the Soil moisture, Sunlight intensity, Soil electrical conductivity, Soil temperature, Wind, Rainfall. Farmworkers and farm owners using the Smart Farming System with daily. Weekly compilations of photographs from 3 farms from 3 countries for 3 months. Working, decentralized high speed internet in 3 farms from 3 countries. Enough Data to begin building a SmartFarming DApp.

[AUDITABILITY] What does success for this project look like?

• Provide a better Farm Management alternative through decentralization.
• Integrate raw material producing countries on the equator
• Innovate to leapfrog these farms into the future
• Provide tangible solutions for the urban farmer and farm manager
• Farmworker gets digital identity, SSI credential
• On-chain record keeping
• Environmental sensors research

[AUDITABILITY] Please provide information on whether this proposal is a continuation of a previously funded project in Catalyst or an entirely new one.

This is an extension of a previous proposal

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/404194

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Rating

SDG goals:

Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

SDG subgoals:

2.3 By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment

2.4 By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality

2.5 By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and their related wild species, including through soundly managed and diversified seed and plant banks at the national, regional and international levels, and promote access to and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, as internationally agreed

2.a Increase investment, including through enhanced international cooperation, in rural infrastructure, agricultural research and extension services, technology development and plant and livestock gene banks in order to enhance agricultural productive capacity in developing countries, in particular least developed countries

Key Performance Indicator (KPI):

2.4.1 Proportion of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture

2.a.1 The agriculture orientation index for government expenditures

2.a.2 Total official flows (official development assistance plus other official flows) to the agriculture sector

#proposertoolsdg