Inspiration
Food security is a key area of concern to be addressed as the food production sector in developing countries, like Trinidad and Tobago are massively reliant on food importation, have been heavily impacted by COVID-19, with the additional constraint of border closures. Reduced food production, due to the economic forces of demand and supply, has caused price increases while the availability of food has decreased. Farmers Market - Delivered was inspired by the opportunity realised to improve food security and promote economic self-sustenance in the farming and food industries.
What it does
Farmers Market Delivered surmises the market experience while providing stability for farmers and customers online. Decentralizing farmer acquisition prevents monopolization and customers can access various crops despite location. This structure stimulates employment, shortens customer food chain and guarantees fresher produce. Customers choose required produce quantities, ensuring budgets are maintained despite socioeconomic status. Farmers can access FMD market trends to guide crop type and quantity selection for future cropping cycles encouraging improved practices, over time leading to multi-cropping and better pest management. With food chain stabilization, customers benefit from variety and highly nutritious food, without experiencing price gouging in difficult times.
Farmers would sign up and arrange a verification interview which includes a farm visit and proof of identity and farmer registration verification. The web app allows vetted farmers to update their inventory based on expected harvest. We would set the prices of the produce based on NAMDEVCO wholesale pricing to keep items fairly priced and prevent price gouging. Customers then can peruse these items and order them in a quantity they choose from the nearest farmer who has it available. The produce, when harvested, would be collected at hubs central to each area. A deal would be made between a farmer in each area and the company to use their shed as the designated hub. Our staff will receive and verify the produce from all the farmers. Farmers would be allowed to view sale data over time to guide them to make data-driven decisions on what their next crops should be. This would encourage them to plant a variety of crops in each district and strengthen national food security. The orders will be packaged at the hubs and delivered to the customers. The delivery drivers will come from a ride share service as they have already vetted their drivers, removing additional checks from our end and further supporting other local businesses. For the produce that is not sold, they will be offered at better deals to charitable organisations, homes for the elderly and orphanages to minimise wastage.
How we built it
We used Laravel as the framework. This allows us to develop using PHP, CSS, HTML and Javascript supported by a SQLITE database for simplicity. Laravel makes it easy to switch databases and we wrote migrations to bootstrap any database instance for ease of launching.
Challenges we ran into
The main challenges have so far been time and data acquisition. Getting import/export and market demand data for analysis, produce pricing and national district details are some of the items that required deeper research.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We're proud of the fact that we sourced the pricing data. We also were able to conceptualise a solution that integrates many individuals and creates jobs, supports other local businesses and looks after the customer, ensuring they have a high quality experience.
What we learned
We became aware of the direction the developing world is heading to as it relates to Food Security and gained an appreciation for that fact that once we identify the problems early and work smartly to prepare for them, we can mitigate most if not all ill effects brought about by the current pandemic.
What's next for Team EUC: Farmer's Market - Delivered 2020
The next stage comprises mobile app development, market research, creating a way for farmers to make data-driven decisions on how to cultivate produce.
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