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FoodLink onboarding screen – encouraging users to share surplus food.
Inspiration
Every year, millions of tons of food are wasted while many families still struggle to eat. In West African cities, markets and supermarkets often throw away perfectly edible products. This paradox inspired us to create FoodLink: a mobile app that gives surplus food a second life by connecting donors with beneficiaries in their community.
What it does
FoodLink is a Flutter-based mobile application that helps fight food waste through community sharing. Donors can publish available food items with photos, expiration dates, and geolocation. Beneficiaries can discover nearby donations on a map, filter by category, and reserve items. The app also manages reservations, notifications, and provides administrators with a dashboard to monitor activity and ensure smooth operations.
How we built it
We developed FoodLink using Flutter (Dart) to ensure cross-platform availability (Android, iOS, Web, Windows). Storage: JSON for offline mode, with optional Firebase for cloud synchronization. Maps & Geolocation: openstreetmap(in development). Notifications: Firebase Messaging for real-time alerts. Architecture: Modular design (auth, donations, reservations, notifications). State management: Provider for clean and scalable logic.
Challenges we ran into
Ensuring the app works while keeping a seamless experience online. Time constraints of the hackathon while building a feature-rich MVP. Designing a UI that remains simple for users with different roles (donors, beneficiaries, admins).
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Delivering a fully functional MVP in a short timeframe. Building a clean and modern UI with Material Design 3. Creating a real-world solution that directly addresses food waste and hunger in communities.
What we learned
The importance of user-centered design for inclusivity and accessibility. Balancing between rapid prototyping and building scalable architecture. Team collaboration strategies, dividing work by modules for speed and clarity. Technical lessons in API integration, state management .
What's next for FoodLink
Expanding features with AI-powered donation suggestions and smarter matching between donors and beneficiaries. Adding a reputation system (ratings/reviews) to build trust in the community. Deploying at scale with cloud-first architecture and analytics for food waste impact measurement. Partnering with NGOs, markets, and restaurants to grow the ecosystem.
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