Edition 2022
Category iStandOut
Projet de Digitalisation de l'Agriculture en Milieu Paysan au Mali
Réseau Agri Vision Sahel (AVS); Enabel Mali
About the project:
The project is led by a consortium of two Malian digital startups run by women, AgriBox and BI MUSSO, and the sub-regional network Agri Vision Sahel (AVS). This consortium proposes digital solutions and applications to improve the flow of goods to growth markets and the yield of agricultural production at lower cost through digital services adapted to the socio-economic realities of farmers and women processors.
Website: https://agrivisionsahel.org/
This winner receives a credit line of 10.000 euro to be used for (research)activities towards further development of the project.
Category iStartUp
Citizens and Machine Learning to End Snail-Borne Diseases
Royal Museum for Central Africa; Mbarara University of Science and Technology; Université de Kinshasa; KULeuven
About the project:
Schistosomiasis, or bilharzia, is a disease caused by parasitic worms transmitted to humans through freshwater snails. More than 200 million people worldwide are affected by this disease, but mostly people in Africa. The WHO recommends combining drug treatment with snail control to combat this disease, but this requires broad-scale and regular monitoring of snail populations. However, there is a lack of snail experts in Africa and beyond, and monitoring campaigns are expensive. In the ATRAP project we therefore adopted a novel citizen science approach to tackle these problems. A group of 50 female and male citizens in Uganda and Congo were equipped with a smartphone, protective gear and snail scoop to monitor freshwater snail populations at fixed human water contact sites. They identify, count and photograph the snails and upload this data to a server using the KoBoToolbox app. ATRAP PhD students validate the data and provide personalized feedback. This expert validation is very time-consuming but crucial to guarantee data quality. Therefore we used deep learning object detection for real-time snail identification. Our model, with detection accuracy of 97%, is available as an open-access web application. This tool, and the snail distribution maps can be online consulted by local health centers and ministries to implement preventive measures including targeted snail control. We aim to adapt the model to a smartphone app for upscaling in remote areas, complimented with educational material on bilharzia, to further support the citizen scientists in their ongoing outreach activities and community mobilization.
Website: https://www.citizenscienceuganda.info/atrap-project-description.html; https://vimeo.com/713991952
This winner will get the opportunity to do an internship in a Belgian or international incubator to the value of 25.000 euro.
Category iChoose
Sustainability-As-A-Service Protocol
Pello Múgica Gonzalez
About the project:
The Sustainability-As-A-Service Protocol is a new independent protocol that is aiming to close the inequality gap in emergency preparedness & response, and significantly reduce response time in developing countries.The idea behind the protocol is that by making it easier for people to donate to future emergencies, and by ensuring that their donations have maximum impact, we can potentially save lives. In the wake of natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods, droughts, storms and earthquakes, every second counts and this protocol has the potential to make a real difference by its speed in fund transfers.
To that end, the protocol provides a set of tools and services to both donors and emergency response organisations including parametric insurance products which can be used as leverage for donations to increase preparedness & improve response time in disaster prone areas. That is important, because an emergency response organisation needs to act quickly to minimize human suffering, but often lags in its response because of bureaucratic and fundraising issues.
The benefits of the Protocol are threefold:
1. It increases transparency and gives donors near real-time feedback on how their donation is being used;
2. It makes sure that emergency response funds are always available, for any disaster, at any time and place;
3. And perhaps most importantly, it significantly reduces response time by making funds instantly available to a disaster response organisation.
This winner receives a cash prize of 5.000 euro.
Category iStandOut
Digital Data Collection for Better Impact in Burundi and DRC: a Success Story to Digitalize Household Surveys
SOS Children's Villages Belgium; SOS Children's Villages Burundi; SOS Children's Villages DRC
About the project:
Children who have lost or are at risk of losing their parents' care remain largely invisible in the statistics at the global level and have long been off the radar of the SDG indicators. SOS Children's Villages International (SOS CVI) started in 2011 to fill this gap. To this end, it created Programme Database 2 (PDB2), a user-friendly web application, designed as a tool to facilitate the effective management of SOS Children’s Villages’ programmes. Its main objective is to store and process meaningful information about the children, young people and their families of programmes provided by SOS Children’s Villages. This information includes key data on 8 dimensions (Care, Accommodation, Education, Protection and social inclusion, Food security, Physical health, Livelihood as well as Social and emotional well-being).
In December 2019, SOS Children’s Villages in Burundi and SOS Children’s Villages in DR Congo, with the support of SOS Children’s Villages Belgium, introduced digitalization at the data collection stage. Before, data gathering in the field was done on paper and the information was not centrally available. Now, the system (PDB2) allows for data collection and entry on digital devices (tablets, phones), even in remote rural areas thanks to an offline mode. After only 2 years of implementation, the transition from a paper process to a digital one in Burundi and DRC already constitutes a “success story”: data quality has significantly improved; data analysis has increased, with programme decisions being increasingly data (PDB2)-driven; and impact measurement is more visible and shared with external partners and stakeholders.
Website: https://www.sos-childrensvillages.org/
The TTE Sandbox
Enabel Uganda; Ministry of Education and Sports
About the project:
The challenges presented by the coronavirus disease call for a new way of delivering education. Enabel responded by supporting Uganda’s Ministry of Education and Sports to develop and implement a distance learning strategy called the “Sandbox”. It is being piloted in the country’s 5 National Teachers Colleges in order to learn lessons for Uganda’s entire education sector. The sandbox steps away from traditional teaching methods and embraces the use of technology. The innovation offers a testing environment for education technology (EdTech), making full use of the potential of teachers to respond to the current education crisis by introducing various ICT tools and practices that facilitate and enhance distance learning during and post Covid-19.
Website: https://www.enabel.be/
Category iStartUp
Halisi: Trusted Biometrics as a Service for Animals
Fit-For-Purpose Technologies
About the project:
Halisi is a biometric system which, from a simple photo or video, makes it possible to obtain key biometric indicators to assess the well-being of a cow, and therefore to take the necessary actions directly influencing its well-being level and consequently its milk production. The Artificial Intelligence driven solution captures, extracts and analyzes physical, psychological and behavioral components. The system has the advantage of being non-invasive, that it can be embedded in fixed devices (e.g. fixed camera) for continuous evaluation, is inexpensive and easy to use and does not always requires internet coverage.
Website: https://fitforpurpose.tech/
Scratc²h 2050: Supporting Coding among Rwandan Adolescents & Teachers through the Curriculum & Clubs Heading for Rwanda 2050
VVOB; Rwanda Basic Education Board; Rwanda Coding Academy; Rwanda TVET Board; Rwandan Association for Women in Science and Engineering; Wehubit
About the project:
In the framework of Scratc²h 2050, learners are introduced to coding principles in the classroom as STEM and ICT teachers integrate Scratch in STEM and ICT courses. The coding clubs, next, provide the opportunity to truly develop digital skills in an enjoyable environment, combining fun with learning the language of generation Z: the programming language. To this end, VVOB trains secondary school STEM and ICT teachers on coding and its benefits through blended learning. After training, they continue to develop professionally through participation in ongoing online and biannual face-to-face ScratchEd Meetups.
Website: https://rwanda.vvob.org/
Category iChoose
AfriTech Hub Immersive Bootcamp
AfriTech Hub
About the project:
The goal at AfriTech Hub is to supply a pipeline of skilled tech professionals from Africa to meet the growing demand for innovators on the continent and globally. The approach involves an intensive and immersive coding camp for six months and internship placements after the 6 months of learning. Overall, participants should be able to commit to this program for 9 months. The project based learning approach ensures that the participants become actual problem solvers ready for the world of work. It also guarantees a supply of quality talent for all our partner institutions. It addresses 3 fundamental problems: quality education, decent work for economic growth, and fostering the representation of Africans in the tech market.
Website: https://afritechh.com/
FACTmobile - A mobile application for the FACT Sahel+ network
Fact Sahel + ; Archisanat
About the project:
Raw earth, a natural building material par excellence, is now making a vigorous and inventive comeback on the construction market, in Africa and worldwide, as an obvious and efficient solution in terms of ecology, economy and comfort. The FACT Sahel+ network federates the actors of raw earth construction in the Sahel and neighbouring countries. It asserts and disseminates a Sahelian construction identity that respects natural resources and human know-how. More than 200 actors are now part of the network in the 5 years since the project began, not counting requests from building owners. Each year, the number of these requests increases.
The FACT Sahel+ network proposes a mobile application to :
FACILITATE, in a few clicks, the linking of supply and demand in the green building sector.
INCLUDE thanks to a light and intuitive tool, accessible to all profiles, whether they are urban, rural or regional.
TRANSMIT the know-how of Earth Construction, which is very present in the Sahel
Website: https://www.factsahelplus.com/
The winners of the Prize D4D Edition 2022 received their prizes from the Director General Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid, Heidy Rombouts, on the recommendation of the jury, during the Awards Ceremony organized by the Royal Museum for Central Africa on November 24, 2022.
Revisit the livestream of the keynote presentations and awards ceremony:
