LeafSafe

LeafSafe is a data-driven platform that leverages IoT sensors, mobile apps, and machine learning to monitor and mitigate antimicrobial resistance in fresh produce. It detects AMR hotspots, identifies drivers of bacterial contamination, and provides predictive analytics and real-time decision support to prevent AMR proliferation on farms.

Anna Massawe is an experienced agricultural scientist with a background in microbiology and a passion for sustainable farming practices.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global health threat, and the contamination of fresh produce with AMR bacteria poses a significant food safety risk. According to studies, around 66.1% of vegetables such as Lettuce, spinach and cabbage in Tanzania are contaminated with at least one type of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, such as E. coli, S. aureus, Klebsiella spp., and Acinetobacter spp. Alarmingly, 64.8% of these bacterial isolates were found to be multidrug-resistant (MDR), and 18.5% were extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producers, resistant to commonly used antibiotics like penicillins and cephalosporins.

This problem is not unique to Tanzania; fresh produce contamination with AMR bacteria is a widespread issue globally, particularly in low- and middle-income countries with limited resources for food safety monitoring and enforcement. The World Health Organization estimates that by 2050, AMR could cause 10 million deaths annually and a potential economic loss of $100 trillion.

The primary causes of AMR contamination in fresh produce include the use of contaminated water for irrigation, inadequate sanitation and hygiene practices during cultivation, handling, and distribution, and the presence of antibiotic residues in soil and water due to improper disposal of agricultural and human waste.

LeafSafe serves the needs of key stakeholders within Tanzania's fresh produce supply chain over the next 3 years, focusing initially on 5 major vegetable-producing regions.

Smallholder Farmers: Targeting 250,000 smallholder farmers who contribute significantly to Tanzania's agricultural output, LeafSafe provides a mobile app for recording practices and tailored guidance to mitigate AMR risks.

Extension Workers and Authorities: Supporting 1,500 extension workers with AMR testing kits and integrating field data, enabling efficient monitoring across the 5 regions. Food safety authorities benefit from real-time dashboards to identify hotspots and enforce compliance measures.

Consumers: Serving over 10 million consumers in the target regions, LeafSafe promotes food safety by reducing AMR contamination risks in fresh produce, safeguarding public health.

Through extensive field research, stakeholder consultations, and participatory design processes, LeafSafe ensures its solution addresses the specific challenges faced by each group within the local context, tailored to the needs of Tanzania's fresh produce supply chain.

LeafSafe provides several important public goods that directly benefit the health and well-being of communities in Tanzania and beyond:

1. Open data access: By integrating community and citizen-generated data, LeafSafe will openly publish interactive dashboards and reports on AMR contamination hotspots, resistance patterns, and risk factors. This open data access enhances global understanding of AMR dynamics in food systems.

2. Public health risk monitoring: LeafSafe's real-time surveillance and predictive analytics tools provide early detection of potential AMR outbreaks to food safety authorities, enabling prompt risk mitigation measures that safeguard public health. 

3. Sustainable agricultural practices: Through prescriptive guidance and training, LeafSafe promotes adoption of judicious antimicrobial use and improved water, sanitation and hygiene among farmers. This reduces environmental contamination and risks of AMR spread.

4. Food safety compliance: By facilitating Traceability and ensuring adherence to regulatory standards, LeafSafe increases the availability of safe, compliant fresh produce for local consumers and global markets, especially those exported to neighboring countries.

LeafSafe delivers multiple benefits centered around data access, health protection, sustainable agriculture and food trade - directly enhancing community well-being in Tanzania as its core public goods.

LeafSafe aims to have significant, measurable impacts on critical stakeholders in Tanzania:

Smallholder Farmers:
By empowering 250,000 farmers with decision support, LeafSafe expects a 30% reduction in AMR contamination within 3 years. This will protect livelihoods for 90,000 farmers. 

Consumers: 
Reducing on-farm AMR by 30% is projected to lower consumer exposure to drug-resistant infections by 15%. This will benefit 10 million people annually.

Ministry of Health:
A 15% reduction in AMR exposure could avert over 1,500 antibiotic-resistant infections each year,

Extension Workers:  
Training 1,500 workers on AMR testing will facilitate monitoring of 250,000 acres of produce, detecting 80% of high-risk areas within 6 months.

Ministry of Agriculture:  
Identifying 80% of contamination hotspots through testing and predictive models will enable targeted policies to curb AMR across 30% of Tanzania's vegetable production areas over 2 years.

LeafSafe is designed to tackle AMR at scale through a data-driven approach, generating quantified healthy, economic and policy impacts for priority stakeholders in Tanzania's food and health sectors.

Over the next year, LeafSafe will make strategic improvements to scale its impact:

- Pilot expansion: Increase farmer enrolment from 250 to 1,000 to capture richer precision agriculture datasets across 5 regions. 

- Sensor network: Augment IoT coverage in pilot fields to monitor environmental determinants of AMR transmission.  

- Testing capacity: Train 50 additional extension researchers in rapid diagnostics to facilitate produce monitoring.

- Analytics optimization: Refine algorithms using expanded datasets to strengthen predictive insights on AMR contamination hotspots.

Within the next 3 years, LeafSafe aims to scale country-wide by:

- National guidance: Partner with Ministry of Agriculture to develop evidence-based cultivation advisories endorsed for 250,000 farmers nationally. 

- University training: Train university researchers on rapid diagnostics to administer regional produce monitoring programs.

- National dashboard: Launch a real-time monitoring portal visualizing AMR exposure trends to guide policy at the Ministry of Health.

By optimizing technologies, expanding partnerships and mainstreaming insights, LeafSafe hopes to mitigate AMR risks in 75% of Tanzania's fresh produce supply by 2025 - creating transformational impact at scale.

LeafSafe has implemented a robust monitoring and evaluation framework to rigorously track progress against our goals:

- User Adoption - We measure the number of registered farmers, field visits by extension workers and uptake of guidance. In our pilot, 50 farmers registered within 1 month of launch.

- Data Quality - We assess completeness of records submitted via the mobile app and sensors. During the pilot, we achieved a 90% data completeness rate.  

- Detection Accuracy - We gauge the ability of our models to accurately predict AMR hotspots by comparing predictions to lab samples. Pilot models identified 80% of high-risk fields.

- Behavior Change - Through surveys, we evaluate shifts in practices like sanitation. Post-pilot, 25 farmers reported improved hygiene protocols.  

- Health Outcomes - We work with local clinics to monitor reductions in resistant infections over time. No change observed yet due to pilot scale. 

- Stakeholder Feedback - Consultations help enhance usability, integration with our partners’ needs. Pilot feedback improved the app interface.

These quantifiable metrics allow us to rigorously track performance against objectives and make evidence-based improvements to maximize impact.

Over the next 1-3 years, LeafSafe may face some key barriers which we are actively working to overcome:

1. Infrastructure: Limited internet connectivity in rural areas could affect sensor data transmission. We will invest in offline storage technologies to capture data until uploading is possible.

2. Adoption: Smallholder farmers may hesitate adopting new technologies without perceived incentives. We will engage agricultural cooperatives to demonstrate LeafSafe's value in improving harvest quality and compliance with export standards. 

3. Finances: Further product development requires significant funding. If selected as a Challenge finalist, the award funds will support pilot expansion and analytics optimization. We will also pursue partnerships with agricultural industry leaders.

4. Policy Alignment: National policies may not prioritize AMR monitoring in theproduce sector initially. We will work closely with the Ministries of Agriculture and Health to incorporate modeling insights into guidance documents and regulatory frameworks over time.

5. Skills: Local capacity for advanced diagnostics and data science is limited. We will offer tailored training programs through university collaborations and continue automating processes to minimize reliance on technical skills.

We are confident LeafSafe can execute its scaling plans to maximize impact over the next stages of development and beyond.

We are applying to The Trinity Challenge because it directly aligns with our goal of developing an innovative, evidence-based solution to mitigate antimicrobial resistance in Tanzania's agricultural sector. 

Some key barriers we face that the Challenge can help us overcome include:

Funding - As a early-stage social enterprise, fundraising has been a major challenge restricting progress. The £1 million prize will allow us to fully realize LeafSafe's scaling potential over 3 years.

Access to Expertise - Connecting with the Challenge network of academic and industry experts would help strengthen our technology, data science capabilities and validation processes. 

Policy Alignment - Partnering with organizations in the Challenge consortium can aid strategically aligning LeafSafe with governmental AMR action plans and regulatory standards.

Adoption - The global recognition and credibility conferred through the Challenge will boost LeafSafe's visibility among target farmers and authorities, expediting uptake.

Impact Measurement - Consulting Challenge advisors and benchmarking against other solutions can help refine our M&E frameworks for quantifying reductions in AMR risks.

By addressing LeafSafe's foremost hurdles of funding and access to technical/policy resources, The Trinity Challenge presents a unique opportunity to maximize our solution's long-term, transformational public health impact in Tanzania and beyond.

3 key organizations where collaboration would greatly benefit LeafSafe and why:

1. Wellcome: As a leading global health foundation, Wellcome's deep expertise, networks and strategic funding would be invaluable. Their support could help accelerate our expansion plans in Tanzania through additional research, training local scientists and optimizing strategies based on their vast experience. Wellcome is also the anchor funder of the Trinity Challenge, strengthening potential collaboration. 

2. Amazon Web Services: AWS's cloud infrastructure and credits would boost our ability to integrate diverse data sources from the field in real-time and power predictive models through machine learning. Their experience deploying digital health solutions at global scale could also guide optimizing our platform to ensure reliability and functionality at population level in Tanzania. 

3. Clinton Health Access Initiative: CHAI's proven strengths in strengthening health systems, supply chains and implementing national programs aligned with governmental priorities across Africa would complement LeafSafe. They could provide vital guidance on integrating our tools, insights and training within Tanzania's immunization, treatment and monitoring systems. CHAI's wide reach spanning over 30 countries also opens possibilities to extend collaboration and eventually expand LeafSafe's work.