Applications for Fall Armyworm Tech Prize open

Feed the Future, supported by Land O'Lakes International Development and the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, is calling for applications for the Fall Armyworm Tech Prize which offers to fund up to $400,000 in digital solutions aiming to help stop the spread of the pest in Africa. Selected digital solutions will strengthen resilience against Fall armyworm and mitigate risks to food security across the continent.

Fall armyworm attacks over 80 different plant species. Agriculture experts estimate the pest could cause between $2.4 and $6.2bn in losses for maize, a major staple crop in Africa on which more than 200 million people depend. Crops like sorghum, rice, and sugarcane are also at risk. Unchecked, fall armyworm is a threat to the livelihoods of farmers and to food security across the continent.

How the prizes will be awarded:

• One grand prize of $150,000 will be awarded to the most viable solution

• Two awards of $75,000 for the most promising solutions

• Two runner-up awards of $50,000 for early-stage developments that show potential

Applications may involve a range of digital solutions and must demonstrate how the proposed tool(s) will help smallholder farmers and those that reach them, such as extension agents, monitor, identify, treat or report the incidence of fall armyworm.

The application deadline is 14 May 2018 via Fall Armyworm Tech Prize. The prize welcomes entries from around the world that are specific to the context of Fall armyworm in Africa. Final prize awards will be announced later this year.