This project originates from one of the core problems I’ve observed while working with the United Nations on food security and cofounding an agtech startup in Kenya. UN agencies and NGOs do incredible work in very challenging contexts. However, most of these organizations (and departments within these organizations) work within the silos of their competence and mandate. There is some coordination and longer term planning, but it is not the norm. So the question arises: With tens of billions of dollars spent each year to solve global hunger, why are these projects not planned systemically and layered over time to create a pathway from emergency relief to agricultural development to total self-sufficiency? This is, after all, the stated goal of every organization working in the sector.
Of the world’s 1 billion food insecure people, more than two-thirds rely on agriculture for food and income. Providing farming inputs (e.g. seeds) to these people may seem counterintuitive. The people are hungry, so give them food. Ok, but then they will be hungry again next month, and they will suffer the indignity of taking handouts instead of producing food for their families and communities. The ideal scenario is to provide food aid to meet their immediate needs at the same time as agricultural inputs with which to produce their own food. This is the beginning of sustainable recovery and development.
The difficulty in this approach is that such planning depends on many interrelated success factors. How much will the crops yield (this depends on soil fertility, type of seeds, weather conditions, etc.)? How much and how long will the people need food aid, and how soon can they support themselves? These are important, nuanced questions. They are difficult to answer if you have all of the necessary information at your disposal and impossible without it. The lack of tools to find and analyze this information is a major impediment to the planning and coordination of thousands of organizations whose collective goal is to end hunger.
Scenario analysis and planning platform
This idea was inspired by Remix’s transportation analysis and planning platform (www.remix.com). Their platform enables city planners to draw new routes on a map and immediately visualize the relevant outcomes for both public transport users (how many people can reach downtown in how much time; what is the breakdown of socioeconomic groups served by this route; how many jobs are within 30 minutes of this route) and city planners (what are the capital costs and annual maintenance fees for this route; how many new drivers will we need to hire; how will it affect the usage of other transportation routes).
Our platform will focus on agriculture and climate data (crop yields, precipitation, drought, soil fertility, climate change, weather patterns such as El Niño and La Niña, etc.); food security data (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a tool used for classifying the severity and magnitude of food insecurity and malnutrition); and development information (improved seeds and farming practices, irrigation, access to markets). Much of this information is routinely collected and maintained, but it will need to be aggregated and refined.
In the same way that Remix transformed transportation planning from a multi-month exercise of meetings and whiteboards to an intuitive and collaborative online platform, our platform will help organizations create scenario analyses for a single project, or plan a sequence of connected projects over time. It will also help donor organizations (e.g. USAID) view their portfolios holistically, and plan future funding outlays based on longer term goals.
What will this project proposal accomplish?
This proposal will complete the foundational steps on which the actual platform will be built:
Expert and end user consultation
Speak with domain experts and likely end users from various organizations, countries and specialties. In these conversations, I will seek to understand the details of how they currently research, plan and coordinate projects (short and long term, humanitarian and development, single or sequenced). I am familiar with the process already, but I would like to really delve into the specific of what they do and how/why they do it.
I will also discuss scenario analysis models with the relevant professionals and ask Remix for advice on designing the platform.
Data selection
Identify the data sets needed to build the platform (including data type, geographic location, update frequency, etc.) and select the best sources for each set.
Scenario analysis
Define the types of scenario analyses the platform will provide.
Platform design and roadmap
Outline the platform development roadmap.
Design the platform.
Explore options to integrate AI optimization into the scenario analysis models.
Here is a 2 page overview of the agtech startup I mentioned above.
USD 20,000
Here is a 10 slide overview of my previous startup's mobile app. This was the core of the platform we built.
100% barring any force majeure events.