A DataKit™ is a work-ready set of data, software, and innovation questions, curated by DataKind, in a domain of social good. As you engage with a DataKit, you will apply your skills for social impact while deepening your understanding of problems common in the space. All learnings, ideas, and insights resulting from this DataKit will be aggregated and used by DataKind to expand our impact in the financial inclusion and economic opportunity sector. Specifically, we aim to leverage your insights and prototype solutions to expand on our product offerings, supporting stakeholders to expand their reach and impact. Learnings will be shared throughout the DataKit and beyond.
Producers Direct acquired all data, technologies, and data science initiatives from WeFarm when the latter went bankrupt in late 2022. WeFarm operated for approximately 7 years as an SMS platform, enabling smallholder farmers in East Africa to share agricultural knowledge and receive peer-to-peer advice. During this time, WeFarm accumulated a substantial dataset consisting of:
- 7.6M+ questions asked across four languages (English, Swahili, Luganda, and Nyn)
- 17.2M+ responses to these questions
- Nearly 200,000 farming tips shared on the platform
- Quality ratings for approximately 20% of the responses
- Basic demographic and farming information on platform users
This rich dataset could yield valuable insights to support on-farm management of smallholder farmers and help improve farm productivity and increase household incomes.
However, Producers Direct needs analytical expertise to extract meaningful patterns and actionable information from this data. The organization is interested in exploring several key areas as noted below.
Every bit of information you contribute is a chance for our partner, Producers Direct, to better understand the challenges and opportunities smallhold farmers face in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America through a data-driven lens.
We want to see it all! Everything will help–not just right answers, but wrong answers and works in progress too.
Generative AI tools (such as ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, or similar) may be used throughout the DataKit event to assist with tasks such as code generation, data visualization, or documentation. We encourage participants to use these tools strategically and responsibly as partners in exploration and analysis, not as replacements for critical thinking.. The goal is to use GenAI strategically to enhance creativity, collaboration, and efficiency, while ensuring that all final analyses and insights reflect human judgment, transparency and ethical data practices.
The project brief to guide you for this DataKit event can be found here.
- Prep Challenge: Bridging Languages — Translating Farmer Conversations
- Challenge 1: Identifying patterns in weather and agriculture
- Challenge 2: Seasonality
- Challenge 3: Identifying Community Leaders.
- Challenge 4: Crop-Specific vs. Crop-Independent Questions
- Challenge 5: Beyond Farming — Financial Inclusion and Livelihood
