Apply your innovation to a new challenge - Reducing crop loss by quelea birds in Africa
Quelea birds causing damage to crops is a real challenge in Africa. We are bringing innovative people together to explore solutions.
Recording and slides now available
Click here to download the slides.
What if your technology could be used to solve a challenge you’ve never heard of? A new application for your technology or research could bring new projects, customers, and opportunities to collaborate and develop your innovation further.
Who is this for?
If you are working on innovations in:
- AI/ modelling
- Robotics
- Insurance
- Bird migration/ behaviour
- Acoustics
- Human/ environment interaction
- Agriculture/ conservation conflict
We are looking for innovative solutions that haven’t been applied to this challenge yet so you don’t necessarily need any knowledge of the challenge around quelea birds to attend this event.
If you are impacted by quelea birds
Join us if you are impacted by quelea birds and interested in innovations to address your challenges. Hearing from you during the conversation will help innovators adapt their ideas so they are useful to the community.
What’s the Challenge?
Quelea birds cause significant damage to crops in Africa when they migrate, especially attacking small grains like sorghum. Quelea are the most populous bird on earth with around 1.8 billion in the wild. They are widely distributed across Africa where they roost in large flocks estimated at 30 million birds.
Rainfall patterns, crop choice and land use change are altering the behaviour of the birds, impacting farmers and harvests.
Large scale pesticide spraying is currently the favoured and most effective method of control, with the quelea swarms being sprayed at their roosting sites. However, there are concerns over the safety and impact of this approach.
New or emerging technologies, or novel combinations of technologies, could help to reduce the damage quelea cause to farm crops with limited environmental impact. These might include modelling or forecasting, use of drones, new field deterrents or improvements to crops or cropping methods.
Click here to read more about the challenge.
Why Attend?
- Understand the challenges around quelea birds and how your technology might offer a solution.
- Discuss how alternative technologies could help address the challenge.
- Share your challenges around quelea birds and the damage they cause to crops
- Hear from experts on the challenge, case studies on how specific countries have addressed this or other bird problems, and innovators with potential solutions.
- Meet potential collaborators to develop your project with.
- Learn about small seed funding for collaborations in this space.
Related Opportunities
Identifying Solutions to Crop Damage Caused by Birds
Opens: 27/05/2022 Closes: 08/07/2022
This Innovation Exchange challenge, delivered by Innovate UK KTN through the Global Alliance Africa project, is supporting a large Agri-based Manufacturing Company with operations across Africa, which is looking for innovative solutions to prevent crop damage caused by migrating birds.