GardenMate is the winner of the 2022 Call for Code Global Challenge. The team will receive USD $200K, open source support from the Linux Foundation, and solution implementation support from IBM and the Call for Code ecosystem.

More than 2.3 billion people (or 30% of the global population) lack year-round access to adequate food, according to a UN report.

The problem is not just one of volume. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reported that meeting UN "zero hunger" targets requires people have not only enough food to eat, but also food to eat that is nutritious and affordable. Many communities, especially those in low-income areas, lack easy access to the fresh fruits and vegetables required for healthy diets.

One source for fresh produce: home and community gardens. These gardens are already a part of the local community, so food can be shared quickly – while it is still fresh – without distance shipping. However, excess produce is often thrown away because gardeners don’t know how to distribute it efficiently to those individuals in the community who need it. A 2-year study found that, in the United States alone, 11.5 billion pounds of garden produce become food waste every year.

So how might technology help connect gardeners with excess produce to individuals who need fresh food?

This is what a team of students from Augustana University in South Dakota, U.S. set out to answer. Originally from Ethiopia, India, and Nepal, the team members realized they had all experienced a similar problem back home: they had a strong interest in gardening but had also seen the waste generated when gardeners didn't know where and how to share excess crops within their communities. The team brought together their skills in front- and back-end development and design, and their passion for serving others, to help local communities share fresh food. Their 2022 Call for Code Global Challenge winning solution, GardenMate, is a marketplace app that connects those with a surplus of fresh produce to local consumers.

This mobile app allows gardeners to create an account, list their excess produce, and start selling what they have grown. Location-based services help create a new local marketplace, where individuals in need of low- or no-cost produce can find out what fresh food is available directly from nearby gardens.

The team also took their sustainability solution a step further. Gardeners might unintentionally follow unsustainable practices, such as wasting water or using chemical fertilizers that damage soil, causing negative environmental consequences. Because home gardening is not always optimized for sustainability the app also provides education and personalized growing advice for gardeners, using IBM Watson AI and IBM Watson Language Translator to make this relevant and available in multiple languages. In future iterations, the team is hoping to add to the community features and to deploy a web platform in addition to the mobile app.

GardenMate enables gardeners to be part of the solution to food insecurity in local communities everywhere.

Ready to take action yourself? Get involved and contribute to Call for Code open source projects.

Meet the 2022 Call for Code Global Challenge winning team

Meet the 2022 Call for Code Global Challenge winning team