KickstartAI X Voedselbanken Nederland

Interactive Dashboarding

Voedselbanken Nederland is collaborating with KickstartAI to combat poverty and improve aid for people facing food insecurity. By combining the Food Bank's expertise with our knowledge of AI and data analysis, we have developed an interactive Poverty Dashboard that enhances the efficiency and reach of local food banks.

Reaching More People in Need

Currently, Voedselbanken Nederland supports over 180,000 people through a network of 179 local food banks. However, an estimated 540,000 people in the Netherlands live in severe poverty, highlighting a significant gap. By leveraging data analysis, we aim to identify regions and demographics that can help close this gap.

Objectives

• Develop a dashboard
  Provides insight into areas where the Food Bank could help but has not yet fully reached people in need.

• Expand the reach of food banks
  Enables data-driven decision-making and improves efficiency.

Approach

The Poverty Dashboard is an interactive tool that combines data from Voedselbanken Nederland with data from CBS (Statistics Netherlands) to provide insights into the demographics of people living in poverty.

Key Features

We have developed the following key features for the Poverty Dashboard:

• A map highlighting areas where people are in urgent need of assistance.

• Insights into how many people require help, how many are already receiving it, and how many are not.

• Analysis of travel distances to food banks by foot, bicycle, and public transport.

• A location planning tool to determine optimal sites for new food banks.

Combating Poverty More Effectively

The collaboration between Voedselbanken Nederland and KickstartAI demonstrates how data analysis can enhance efforts to combat poverty. With the Poverty Dashboard, food banks can improve their reach and efficiency, ensuring that more people in need receive the support they deserve.

Results

The Poverty Dashboard is currently used by over 30 local food bank organizations as part of the "Under the Radar" project, helping them enhance their services.

It supports them by:

• Visualizing areas where food aid is most needed.

• Identifying optimal locations for new food banks to maximize reach.

• Enabling data-driven decision-making for resource allocation and strategic planning.

"This use of data analysis is promising. It is a valuable tool, especially when implemented on a large scale and combined with data from other organizations."

— Anna Custers

(Lecturer in Poverty Interventions, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences)