Inspiration
The inspiration behind Farm Zenith sprouted from the urgent need to address food insecurity, poverty, and inefficient agricultural practices prevalent in Uganda. According to WFP, 19.7% live below the poverty line and 29% of children under 5 suffer from stunting underscoring the gravity of the situation.
Another Case Study was done in Karamoja, and over 50% were found to have acute food insecurity. Recognizing the pivotal role of agriculture and land in Uganda's challenges, we set out to create a solution that would revolutionize traditional farming practices.
What it Does
Farm Zenith is an innovative agricultural, land and climatic optimization platform that harnesses the power of geospatial data, machine learning, and environmental science to empower local farmers. By offering actionable insights, it optimizes planting schedules, crop selection, and resource management, enhancing productivity and reducing the impact of climate uncertainties.
How We Are Building It
We are building Farm Zenith through a collaborative effort that combines expertise in data science, machine learning, and a deep understanding of Uganda's agricultural landscape. Leveraging tools like Google Earth Engine, Google AI, GitLab, and Google Colab in conjuction with Kaggle Jupyter Notebooks, and Cloud Storage, we are developing and implementing predictive models, ensuring the platform's effectiveness in providing personalized recommendations to farmers.
Challenges We Ran Into
The journey wasn't without challenges. Integrating diverse datasets, ensuring data accuracy, and addressing the unique complexities of Uganda's agricultural context presented hurdles. Overcoming these challenges required meticulous problem-solving and adaptation of our technical approach.
How Our Project Expands Upon the Global GitLab Catalog
Farm Zenith expands upon the global GitLab catalog by introducing innovative applications of machine learning and geospatial data in the agricultural sector. Our project not only addresses local challenges but also contributes valuable techniques and insights to the wider tech community through GitLab. By showcasing how technology can revolutionize traditional farming practices, we aim to inspire and collaborate with developers worldwide, enriching the GitLab ecosystem with impactful solutions.
Accomplishments That We're Proud Of
We take pride in successfully developing a platform that has the potential to significantly impact the lives of Ugandan farmers. Achieving actionable insights for optimizing crop yield and resource management marks a crucial milestone in our mission. We have so far carried out an EDA on the World Bank's dataset to get actionable insights
What We Are Learning
The process of building Farm Zenith is providing invaluable lessons as Year Two Computer Science Students. We learned to navigate the intricacies of agricultural data, implement machine learning models effectively, and adapt our approach to suit the local context. The project reinforced the importance of collaboration and community engagement in driving meaningful change.
What's Next for Farm Zenith
Looking ahead, Farm Zenith is poised for further development and implementation. Our next steps involve refining and expanding the platform, strengthening partnerships with agricultural stakeholders, and actively engaging with farmers to ensure the platform's efficacy and scalability.
We are currently planning to develop the data dashboard and mobile app with plans of introducing a USSD action plan to last-mile farmers.
The Team
We are AI/ML enthusiasts currently pursuing our second year in Computer Science at Makerere University. We are passionate about applying our knowledge to solve real-world problems, particularly those affecting our local communities.
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