One of the most significant disruptions caused by COVID-19 is the inability of agricultural certification companies to make in-person visits, an important step in the certification process. Currently, producers are unable to sell their products on the market, putting a huge constraint on our food supply. Our team, from FoodFied, has designed a practical, low-cost, scientifically-based solution to partake this problem: to provide the means so certifiers can evaluate plantation areas at a low-cost rate using satellite and the producer’s own data. We use resources that are already in the game such as data from the SMAP mission to correlate the soil’s moisture with property area, mean pluviometric rates to enrich data reports, implementation of IA to cross-data the information provided, and blockchain certification to trace back in case of any inconsistencies. One of our project’s strongest qualities is how tangible our real impact on society will be. The solution is scientifically reliable as there are similar apps that facilitate the process of field visits and have helped increase the number of rural producers in the market by 40%. FoodFied is real, viable, cost-efficient, and represents an opportunity to put healthy food on the table of those in need.
MOTIVATION
Living in rural and low-income settings where social inequality levels are outstanding, many of our team members have witnessed the struggles that small-scale farmers have faced to set their products up for consumption. In agriculture-based countries, such as Brazil, the impossibility of producers to enter the market or renew their production license could decrease the revenue of families who make a living out of rural production, especially in the scenario of a pandemic. In the macroscale, with the lower supply, the economy would collapse, the country would be further into a recession, and Brazil would face a huge humanitarian crisis because of a lack of food. Therefore, solving this problem could further tackle already existing issues within the journey of food to our plates, turning this crisis into an opportunity.
OUR SOLUTION
FoodFied is a mobile app that facilitates and speeds up the agricultural certification process. It has four main features that make it special. First, it offers certifiers the ability to request data about the inputs used in the farming practices remotely. The app avoids fraud by sending an exclusive link to producers so that they can only submit proof of quality, including pictures and videos of the plantation areas, through that specific portal. Moreover, the app has a feature called ‘Maps’ that allows certifiers to get information about soil moisture, temperature, and chemical composition of a client’s land from NASA SSE satellites. On top of that, the ‘Maps’ feature enables certifiers to visualize meteorological data from NASA crossed over with SMAP satellite images to observe rain precipitation and drought, valuable data when making a certification decision. After collecting the data from producers, certifiers can build professional PDF reports using FoodFied. Then, the app speeds up the certification process by crossing the data from agricultural specific technical standards with the PDF reports to determine the producers’ eligibility for certification. Finally, we understand that in times of social distancing, avoiding commuting into farther places is an important policy. Thus, farmers can also find certification companies nearby and vice-versa using data from the NASA LandsatLook Viewer.
DESIGN PROCESS
We started off by shooting ideas and building a memory mind map. We placed the challenge in the center of our map and then pulled out branches with potential solutions. After we decided to move on with FoodFied, we started working on the app’s wireframe, with most of the screenings and features. Then, we decided on a pallet of colors that reminds us of Brazil/Agriculture all together: green. Then, we leveled up the colors, matching them with the design previously done on the wireframes. Next, we used Illustrator to design our logo and some of our features. We animated and prototyped an interactive and easy platform so everyone can use it without difficulties, with step by step interactions. We also designed an AI called Fied that will enable certifiers to correlate NASA’s Landsat Data with the farmer’s inputs.
Link to Behance to glance a look at our design features:
https://www.behance.net/gallery/98080355/Nasa-Hacks-FoodFied?
Adobe XD Archive Box Cloud to interact with the app:
https://tufts.box.com/s/iwxalqsh1rcgd8sk7a7oopv2cobyx70v
Link to Youtube Show Off Interaction
LOOKING AHEAD
Although we have designed FoodFied to be a useful tool for existing certification companies, we believe the app can easily become an agricultural certification startup. For that, we will need to get authorization from the competent bodies in each country, including the Ministry of the Environment in Brazil and the United States Department of Agriculture in the U.S. Our solution is applicable both during and after the pandemic as agriculture technology has become a trend. In the future, we envision FoodFied to be the largest certification enterprise in the world with a methodology done 100% remotely.
NASA LandsatLook Viewer (https://landsatlook.usgs.gov/): We use data from the NASA LandsatLook Viewer to provide certifiers with the ability to locate small-scale food producers nearby and vice-versa.
NASA Earth Science Data Products for AGRA Farmer Management and Agro-Input Cell Phone Systems ( https://earthdata.nasa.gov/esds/competitive-programs/access/agra-farmer-management): We enable certifiers to help small-scale producers predict weather conditions and the probability of crop failure, an important aspect when determining the eligibility for certification. For that, we want to use satellite-remote sensing derived products useful for monitoring.
Management Blockchain: Once producers receive certification, they are registered in the certification companies’ database, which enables certifiers to access in-depth tracking throughout the entire food chain. A useful resource could be the NASA Air Traffic Management Blockchain platform that can be useful when the transportation of the products happens via aircraft.
NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (https://smap.jpl.nasa.gov/): Our app offers data on soil moisture, temperature, and chemical balance to certifiers. This diminishes the need for requesting high-technical data from the producers who might have lower educational levels and might not receive assistance from agronomists. The map images would provide certifiers with a clear understanding of the need for inputs, including fertilizers and chemical plague controllers, during the farming practices. Those are substances that, depending on their chemical composition, are forbidden for agricultural certification purposes.
World Bank Blogs - COVID-19 will hit the poor hardest. Here’s what we can do about it <https://blogs.worldbank.org/voices/covid-19-will-hit-poor-hardest-heres-what-we-can-do-about-it>
UMOV.ME - Aplicativo agrícola dobra produtividade de certificadora de grãos no Mato Grosso <https://www.umov.me/aplicativo-agricola-dobra-produtividade-de-certificadora-de-graos/>
MFRURAL - Aplicativo gratuito para elaboração de laudos agrícolas <https://www.mfrural.com.br/detalhe/279223/aplicativo-gratuito-para-elaboracao-de-laudos-agricolas>
Brasil Escola - Importância dos pequenos produtores no Brasil <https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/brasil/importancia-dos-pequenos-produtores-no-brasil.htm>
Folha de São Paulo - Isolamento por coronavírus eleva preços dos alimentos em março, diz FGV <https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/mercado/2020/03/isolamento-por-coronavirus-eleva-precos-dos-alimentos-em-marco-diz-fgv.shtml>
Folha de São Paulo - Dólar, alta da demanda com pandemia e efeitos do clima encarecem alimentos <https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/colunas/vaivem/2020/03/dolar-alta-da-demanda-com-pandemia-e-efeitos-do-clima-encarecem-alimentos.shtml>