Deadline – July 14, 2020
Agriculture sector is the mainstay of Pakistan’s economy as it contributes around 20 percent in the overall gross domestic product (GDP) and is also a big source of employment. It helps meet the food requirement of ever-increasing population, providing raw materials to all the major industrial sectors including textiles, leather, sugar, flour milling etc., and has a significant role in in poverty alleviation and rural development. Low growth, water shortage, environmental concerns, volatile energy prices, rising expectations from consumers – these are some of the complex challenges the agriculture sector is facing today, along with diminishing production profit margins for farmers. Innovation is playing a key role in addressing the challenges at a greater scale. To grow the food Pakistan and the world needs, innovative crop production systems to produce more in an environmentally, economically and socially viable way.
AgriSurge Innovation Challenge (AIC) is an Open Innovation Challenge seeking to transform agriculture sector in the country through ground breaking ideas to meet the growing challenges with new solutions submitted by inspiring individuals and teams – of students, professionals, entrepreneurs, startups, and ordinary citizen innovators. AIC aims to ignite innovation leading to enhance the agricultural productivity of the country using 4IR technologies of AI, Big Data and others, ensuring to address the demands of growing population.
The Challenge is open to teams of men and women who are interested in technology and innovation and have a viable idea to develop within the scope of the themes proposed. Participation is open to individuals aged 18 and older.
A team of six members(max) is suggested. Gender-balanced and Women-only teams are encouraged to register. WOMEN-ONLY TEAMS WILL BE GIVEN EXTRA POINTS AT THE TIME OF FINAL EVALUATION BY THE EXPERT PANEL.It is our experience that many teams will register for the Challenge. Pre-screening will be carried out to ensure that only those teams with the most viable and innovative ideas compete in the Challenge.
Registration deadline is July 14, 2020. Upon successful registration, participants will be able to add team members, upload the business case and pitch video. Participants can make changes to their submissions til the submission deadline
Shortlisted teams will be informed via e-mail.
JUDGING CRITERIA:
Data-Driven:
Innovative data-driven solution, able to add value to context specific agricultural productivity issues in Pakistan.
Affordability:
The solution should be accessible and affordable to a wide range of people.
Usability:
Proposed solution should meet end-user requirements and sufficiently scalable to be used by smallholder farmers and community with different languages, levels of education and digital literacy in Pakistan.
Potential Impact:
Applicant should demonstrate a real understanding of the situation that their solution is helping to address.
Privacy & Security:
Adherence to any data protection laws of Pakistan.
Growth Potential:
The solutions shall be sustainable, with respect to both financial and environmental considerations.
Award Information
- Making visions a reality. Ignite will award three top innovative solutions to bring the vision to life — and to help it create a sustainable, meaningful impact for years to come.
- 1st place Team will receive PKR. 500,000/-
- 2nd place Team will receive PKR. 300,000/-
- 3rd place Team will receive PKR. 200,000/-
- A special cash prize will be awarded to women majority teams, conditional to the solution presented.
- Winning teams will have a chance at admission to a National Incubation Centers.
- Winning solutions will be shared with FAO country offices for potential uptake and scalability.
For more information, visit Ignite.
