close
close

Smartelite: Pre-pubescent girls develop app to combat food shortages in Nigeria

Four young secondary school students

Where does this photo come from? Karina Igonikon/BBC

What we call this photo Middle school students develop app to combat hunger and food shortages

At a time when Nigeria has declared a state of emergency due to food shortages, this award-winning group of youth believes these innovations could help solve the problem.

The girls – 12-year-old Goodness Nwonanne-Chima, Tiffany Tejiri Oghenemaro, 11-year-old Excel Kiisibari Barile-Nwika and Salome Obehiremen Akhabhau, whom they call “Smartelite” – explain that the AgriConnect app, which was developed to connect farmers, landowners and investors with the resources and skills needed to solve the problem of food insecurity and promote local food production in Nigeria.

According to the girls, this innovation is in line with the second goal of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: to end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition by 2030.

The explanation is done through the app: people who have land but don't know how to farm meet people who farm but don't have land or money, and the two meet people who have money to invest in farming.

“So the investor brings the money to take over the farm, the farmer brings his skills and knowledge of farming and the landowner brings land which we take over for farm work. At the end of the day, everyone benefits from the farm depending on how they agree to share the profits.” Salome tok.

Wein Ginger should design the app?

Smart elite

Where does this photo come from? Karina Igonikon/BBC

A report by the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Agriculture which says that 31.5 million Nigerians will suffer from food crisis and acute hunger between June and August 2024 is urging the girls to find a solution as there cannot be enough food in the main food producing regions of Nigeria, namely Northern Nigeria.

“A solution to this problem is planned for each region of Di Kontri to produce Dia food.” Well, my goodness.

She says they do some research and distribute questionnaires to some Pipo, and 86% of the Pipo expressed interest in farming, but they do not have the means or resources to start.

This enables them to develop the AgriConnect mobile app that connects farmers, nearby landowners, and seedling sellers and investors. The app also includes a section to educate people who are interested in agricultural fields and do not yet know how to practice this type of farming.

From finding solutions to global recognition

Awards page
What we call this photo This girls app and AgriConnect win the beginners division at the Technovation Awards

Thanks to their innovations, the young middle school students have made it to the finalist team of the Technovation Girls 2024 beginner class, which aims to inspire girls to pursue STEM education.

This competition teaches young girls from countries around the world how to use their engineering skills to solve environmental problems. There are three categories for special awards in the areas of education, agriculture and climate change.

In the Combat Hunger Award category, schoolgirls from China won in the area of ​​climate change, from Poland in the area of ​​education, and these prepubescent girls from Nigeria in the category of agriculture.

This places them among the 15 winners worldwide for further training in California (USA) later in the year, where they will continue to compete against other teams.

This will not come as a surprise to the girls as they were not expecting it, but they will be especially excited to learn more about coding and artificial intelligence (AI).

“No encouragement for young girls to study STEM subjects and acquire technical skills”

For their mentor, Somkenechukwu Mamah, this app is a good demonstration of the girls’ coding lessons and skills and a proud moment for them.

Its main goal is to introduce young children to technology and help them develop their problem-solving skills so that they are able to identify the problems facing their community and use the technical skills they learn to find solutions to those problems.

“I am so excited because I think hard work pays off. This Technovation Award not only tests participants' technical skills following the 12-week curriculum, but also develops their social skills through group work and brainstorming sessions where they identify societal problems and find solutions to achieve Goal 2 of the SDGs, the Zero Hunger goal.”

You may also like...