GirlCode Hackathon winners 2018

Lightbulbs: An App to address The UN goal of Good Health & Living.

Team Lightbulbs built a solution designed to address food security in South Africa, in response to the recent listeriosis outbreak. Their solution aims to place more knowledge in the hands of the citizens and consumers, whilst encouraging retailers and producers to work more closely in the early detection of risks associated with disease in foods.

The Business and Societal Need:

People in society lack knowledge of the origin of food products they consume daily. As a result, issues such as the recent listeriosis outbreak in South Africa in 2017-2018, threaten citizen health and in more serious cases can lead to loss of life. Citizens need better access to information so that they can make more informed decisions about their food choices. In so doing, they can take better control of their health.

The Idea:

We created an interactive IoT system using MQTT tech with Arduino uno and an ESP8266 sensor device. The system operates in real-time and allows farmers to keep track of all crop production processes as well as monitor temperature, soil and water consumption of the crops they’re growing. It creates a platform through its firebase designed database that will allow consumers and production houses access to all information on any crop that is available for retail.

The Solution:

Providing consumers and citizens with more information about the food they consume; information that goes beyond the nutritional guide stamped on food labels. The solution is designed to link retailers (supermarkets) and producers (farmers) together, thereby encouraging them to work collaboratively to tackle the constant risk of disease that can occur in perishable food, such as the recent listeriosis outbreak. By providing a platform supported with sensors designed to measure and monitor any potential disease or risk, retailers and producers can store their food data in a centralised location that is supported with data management and analysis to improve early detection of any risks.

The Intended Impact:

Food security. Providing citizens and consumers more knowledge about the foods they consume and encouraging them to support local farmers and grow their own food. Simultaneously, the platform encourages retailers and producers to work collaboratively in their efforts to increase early detection, and reduce the risk of, food disease.

Watch below the as Tiisetso explains the solution.