Shaping Agro

COVID-19 impacts directly to the Sustainable Development Goal number 2 which aims to eradicate hunger, achieve food safety, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture. Therefore, Santo Domingo HUB decided to create the event “Shaping Agro” which was an online hackathon or technological competition having as main objective the development of groundbreaking technological solutions through the integration of three fundamental pillars: (i) technology; (ii) innovation; and (iii) entrepreneurship. The project occured in seven (7) intensive days in which participants exposed their ideas, met potential collaborators, built teams, and worked along with professional mentors to achieve solutions and tech products for improving employment, inclusion and sustainability in the agricultural sector vis a vis COVID-19 crisis, within the community of Santo Domingo. Since the agricultural sector represents 8% of Dominican Republic GDP, 14%of all labor force and 4% of all exportations we estimated a huge impact on our community's economic growth. This project was done with the collaboration of the following institutions: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Food Program (WFP), International Fund for Agricultural Development (FIDA), KPMG, Jiménez Peña Attorneys, Singularity University (Dominican Chapter), Dominican Institute for Telecommunications (INDOTEL), Ministry of Agirculture of the Dominican Republic, and Ministry of Industry, Commerce and MIPYMES of the Dominican Republic. 

Problem Statement: Farmers in the Dominican Republic need solutions to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 in agriculture and food security.

 

Target Group: Farmers in the Dominican Republic and Youth between 18-35 y/o.

 

Proposed Solution: Establish an online hackathon to gather professionals in technology, design, business, development, and other areas, to create solutions to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 in agriculture and food security in the Dominican Republic.

 

Hub Activities: ●Shaping Agro: An eight-day online hackathon through the Slack Platform to permit participants to develop ideas and have access to mentors in technology, business, and food security.

●Powertalks (Webinars) to allow hackathon participants and the public in general to learn more about current problems related to food security, agriculture sector, and the food supply chain. They also allow participants to meet  local and international entrepreneurs creating solutions to food production.
●Night Pitches: A space in the event where each team had the opportunity to pitch their ideas in front of mentors and receive feedback to improve their projects.
●Coaching 1-on-1 sessions: 15 minutes of private meetings between mentors and teams to review the project’s evolution.
●Final Pitch: Last day of the event where teams pitched their ideas to the judges and competed to receive the final prize.
●Webpage shapingagro.do allowed participants and the public to have all the necessary information about the event purposes, the problem, and mentors’ biographies.
●Hack & Jam: Spotify playlist where event participants shared their favorite songs to the community.

Short & Long-Term Goals/Results: ●Hackathon Main Platform (Slack)

●Powertalks (Webinars) via Zoom and Youtube Live
●List of participants, project proposal, mentors and judges
●Alliances
●Mentorship program
●Website

Available Metrics: ●Powertalks (Webinars):  9 webinars (1,466 Youtube views and +650 Zoom Webinar participants) and 13 speakers.

●Hackathon Main Platform (Slack): 168 participants subscribed and 33 work channels.
●List of participants and projects: 145 participants and 14 projects submitted (1 winner).
●53 mentors and 7 judges.
●Mentorship program: Night Pitches:  +14 hours of pitch sessions and Coaching 1-on-1 sessions: +14 hours of 1-on-1 scheduled sessions.
●Website: 1,577 visits.
●Social Media Event Promotion (average per post): 57.55 likes, 20.05 shares, 4.3 comments, 700 interactions.
●Spotify Playlist: 217 songs submitted.
●Shapers Involved: 28.

 

Collaborators: United Nations in the Dominican Republic (UN DR), Food and Agriculture Organization in the Dominican Republic (FAO DR) International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), World Food Program (WFM), Ministry of Agriculture in the Dominican Republic, iménez Peña Law Firm, Ministry of Industry, Commerce & SMEs in the Dominican Republic (MICM), KPMG , Junta Agro-Empresarial Dominicana (JAD), Dominican Telecommunications Institute (INDOLTEL), Singularity U - Santo Domingo Chapter