By 2017, the hungry people around the world reached 815 million. To explore innovative solutions, International Telecommunications Union and Food Agriculture Organization organized a series of hackathons under the theme of "Hack Against Hunger”. 15 teams from 13 countries including China, Switzerland, France, Spain, India, Egypt, and Jamaica etc. attended the competition. 16 experts in areas such as agriculture, food, and environment from Food Agriculture Organization as well as the entrepreneurs from famous companies in Switzerland provided consultation and instruction for the teams.

Through selection, NWAFU’s biogas project stood out from the crowd and entered the final competition in Geneva from March 18th to 20th as one of the two Chinese teams. The team was awarded Outstanding Team in the end. The biogas project was initiated in 2017 and was oriented to the low utilization rate of biogas digester in rural areas. Under the instruction of Prof Qiu Ling, the team developed a physical biogas fermentation accelerant – currently the only product of this kind in the market, which not only widened the application range of the raw materials but also greatly improved the speed and the stabilization of fermentation. The team also designed a fermentation sensor with SMS reminder which simplified fermentation management as well as a comic user manual which lifted the professional barrier of product usage. The product is currently promoted in the surrounding areas of Yangling on a trial basis. In the next phase, a community with comprehensive usage of biogas products will be established.

Group photo

Translated by: Zhao Rui

Proofread by: Yan Xianhui