Product/Service Development

Ritvik Sahajpal of the University of Maryland College Park in the U.S. will develop an early warning system for low-income countries that predicts the threat to crops from pests and diseases by combining machine learning and crop pest modelling with freely available earth observation data. Existing monitoring systems allow farmers to share data on pest incidence to ensure the timely and limited use of treatments. This maximizes crop yield while minimizing cost and environmental damage.

Hanseup Kim of the University of Utah in the U.S. will develop small, ultra-low power, chemical sensors that can be distributed around farms to help detect crop diseases in low-resource settings. Plants under attack from pests and diseases release low levels of volatile organic compounds that could be used as an early warning system to reduce crop losses, which can be substantial.

Erika Linnander of Yale University in the U.S. will use the social influence of rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs) – groups who save and borrow together– to increase demand for routine immunizations in Cameroon and Ethiopia. Both these countries have lower than average vaccination coverage and high levels of ROSCA participation. ROSCAs, associations whose members contribute to a fund that can be paid out in whole or in part to each member in rotation, are a savings vehicle for those who may not have access to formal financial institutions.

Shola Dele-Olowu of the Clinton Health Access Initiative in Nigeria will consult with a team of community members and health professionals to improve the efficiency of routine immunizations in primary health centers in Nigeria. The vaccination rate in Nigeria varies: while the overall average is 33%, in some areas only 3% of the population is vaccinated. Historical issues with service delivery including long wait times and lack of information have caused fear and mistrust of the healthcare system among caregivers.

Molly Brown of Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture in the U.S. will develop an early warning system for crop diseases for rural farmers in Africa by gathering data using existing infrastructure and mobile tools from commercial partners and applying machine learning pest models. Insect pests cause almost half of crop losses in Africa each year, which impacts both food supply and the economy.

Do-yeon Pi of PiQuant in the Republic of Korea is developing a low-cost spectroscopic device and monitoring system, the Water Scanner, that can be nationally deployed to rapidly detect and map Escherichia coli contamination in drinking water in low-resource settings. Water pollution causes up to 90% of diarrheal diseases, which kill 500,000 children under the age of five each year. Water quality is currently measured using spectroscopic devices that are expensive and time-consuming.

Anne De Groot of the GAIA Vaccine Foundation in the U.S., along with Mika Kunieda of Keio University in Japan and Eliza Squibb and Julia Shivers of ZTwist Design in Boston, will design and distribute printed fabric baby-wraps that use West African iconography to represent the infant vaccination schedule to new mothers in Niger to encourage vaccine completion and reduce child mortality in West Africa.

Christine Lamanna and Todd Rosenstock of the World Agroforestry Centre in Kenya will develop a strategy that combines local knowledge and a Bayesian network model to prioritize agricultural policy using Tanzania’s Agriculture and Food Security Investment Plan as a case study. Agriculture is responsible for nearly one third of Africa’s gross domestic product, yet productivity suffers from limited infrastructure and lack of access to markets and financing.

Hidenori Harada of Kyoto University in Japan will develop and test a largely automated system for the regular removal and safe disposal of fecal sludge from septic tanks in Asia. Billions of people rely on septic systems to collect human waste. Regular emptying and proper disposal of fecal sludge are critical to avoid potential contamination of clean water by backups, leaks and illegal dumping of waste.

Aart Van den Beukel of Safi Sana in the Netherlands will enable digital monitoring of the entire waste and sanitation supply chain to improve quality control, reduce costs, and help communities transform waste into resources such as agricultural and energy products. Poor sanitation and waste management can drive poverty and disease, but it is difficult to monitor in low-resource settings. The sanitation and waste industry can also provide unique opportunities for social and economic benefit when communities are given access and support.