Developing innovative solutions for food security

Ensuring that all people have access to sufficient, affordable, safe and nutritious food is a key challenge for our society. The United Nations estimates that global food production levels will need to increase 70 percent by 2050 to help feed 10 billion people. This calls for a major effort on the part of policy-makers, academia, global leaders, agri-food experts and civil society throughout the world.

The Data4Food Challenge is a hackathon that brings together bright minds that can drive the innovation that could change the way we feed the world in 5 to 10 years’ time. Making use of various types of data streams, such as soil statistics, Twitter messages, satellite imagery, or consumption pattern data from food companies, participants will develop opportunities and solutions for food security. 

To tackle this complex challenge, there is a need to bring together people from different backgrounds:

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  - Policy experts (ministries, think tanks, NGOs, public institutions) 
  
• - Developers (software, hardware, graphic designers, etc.) 
  
• - Academics and students
  
• - Agri-food and business experts 
  
• - Innovators, creatives and entrepreneurs 
  

In multidisciplinary teams, participants will discuss and work on developing the potential for data-driven innovation that can enhance food security in the light of the emergence of Big Data and related technologies. The guiding principle for this data Hackathon will be the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal #2: “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture”. #Data4Food Diplohack is organised by Leiden University and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.