The Huerto Smart 3.0 (Smart Educational Hydroponic Gardens)

Solution description

The proposed solution involves scaling-up and prototyping smart educational hydroponic gardens in schools’ areas from the urban areas of La Paz and el Alto, Bolivia. This innovative solution combines hydroponic technology, sustainable agriculture, and educational empowerment for students, providing an opportunity to improve local food security and contribute to climate change adaptation.

Key features include:

• Solar-powered Hydroponic cultivation methods that allow food production without soil, using nutrient-enriched water for crops such as lettuce, celery, and basil.
• Smart technology such as the Cerebelum system application, which connects the garden’s components (lighting, irrigation, fans) to a mobile application for remote monitoring and control, requiring only weekly checks. The application is actively being utilized to support the ongoing activities in La Paz.
• A focus on education, engaging students aged 6-12 in both agricultural techniques and the use of advanced technologies.
• Community participation, with local schools, youth organizations, and the municipal government involved in garden operations and decision-making.
• Sustainable Agriculture: with a strong potential to grow not only celery, basil and several types of lettuce, but also radish, spinach and other key fast growing fresh commodities.
• Climate adaptation: The solution is highly adaptable to a variety of climate-impacted contexts, initially prioritizing urban and peri-urban areas. However, rural zones can also be considered with an adapted business model. Areas affected by drought, water scarcity, or limited access to resources are also potential candidates for investment in this innovative solution.

The project’s main objectives include:

1. Scaling up hydroponic gardens in schools, and community spaces to increase food security and provide local, pesticide-free produce.
2. Empowering students with skills in sustainable agriculture and technology, equipping them with tools for future employment in green industries.
3. Continuing investing on a sustainable self-sustaining business model where revenue from produce sales supports the continuous operation of the gardens.

The expected results are increased food production, reduced dependency on external food sources, enhanced climate resilience, and social cohesion within communities. These gardens will be popularized through social media, public awareness campaigns, and community outreach activities.

The project focuses on scaling and prototyping Smart Educational Hydroponic Gardens in La Paz, Bolivia, combining hydroponic technology, solar energy, and smart systems to address food security, climate change adaptation, and education. The key features include soil-free cultivation, remote monitoring via the Cerebelum system, and hands-on learning for students aged 6-12 in agricultural techniques and technology.

The solution involves:

• Technology: Solar-powered hydroponic systems and smart technology for efficient resource use.
• Human Resources: Teachers, students, community members, and experts collaborate to run the gardens and provide education on sustainable farming and technology.
• Beneficiaries: Students gain valuable skills, local communities benefit from fresh, pesticide-free produce, and the municipal government supports food security and climate resilience.
• Financial Aspects: The project aims to be financially self-sustaining through revenue from the sale of produce, with initial funding from grants and partnerships. Cost savings come from solar power and efficient hydroponic systems.

The expected outcomes include increased food production, reduced dependence on external sources, and enhanced community cohesion. The gardens also offer a model for climate resilience and educational empowerment, contributing to a sustainable future in urban areas.

As of February 2025, three hydroponic gardens in La Paz are fully operational, marking a significant milestone in the project’s implementation. Additionally, the main digital monitoring application, designed as a core component of the initiative, is now fully functional. Moving forward, WFP remains committed to providing ongoing support to the Alcaldía de La Paz, local community members, and schoolchildren, ensuring the continued success and sustainability of the project.

Finally, South-South and triangular cooperation will be supported by the exchange of knowledge and best practices between Bolivia and other countries with similar climate challenges, facilitated by entities such as the World Food Programme, the Alcadia de La Paz. Partnerships with key partners with recognized expertise will ensure that the project is tailored to the needs identified. Impact will be measured through quantitative data on food production, water and energy savings and qualitative assessments of student engagement and learning.

The exchange of knowledge and best practices between Bolivia and other countries with similar climate challenges, through South-South and triangular cooperation facilitated by entities such as the World Food Programme and the Alcaldia de La Paz, will enhance project results and is an opportunity to jointly explore solutions and alternatives to address common problems. Partnerships with key partners of recognized expertise both global and local level, will ensure that the project is tailored to the needs identified. Impact will be measured through quantitative data on food production and water and energy savings, and qualitative assessments of student engagement and learning, creating a self-sustaining business model where revenue from produce sales supports the continuous operation of the gardens.

Leveraging its global recognition and partnership with such local bodies as the Alcaldia de la Paz, and Cruz Verde, and facilitating knowledge exchanges through South-South and Triangular Cooperation, the solution can be scaled up in countries facing similar challenges posed by climate change.

Innovation alignment

This project is highly innovative in its combination of sustainable agriculture, advanced technology, and education, specifically using hydroponics to produce food in spaces that would otherwise be underutilized. Unlike traditional farming, which relies on large tracts of land, the smart gardens maximize small urban spaces, allowing for higher food yield with minimal resource use. This initiative is linked to the State’s School Feeding Program, which encourages students to value knowledge and healthy eating habits.

The solution aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in several ways:

• SDG 2 – Zero Hunger: The project contributes to local food production, improving food security and providing nutritious produce.
• SDG 4 – Quality Education: Students learn hands-on agricultural skills, technology use, and sustainable practices, promoting future employment and innovation.
• SDG 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production: The project emphasizes efficient resource use, particularly water (with an 80% reduction in water usage) and energy, alongside reducing food waste through local production.
• SDG 13 – Climate Action: The gardens serve as a climate adaptation strategy, helping communities cope with environmental changes by offering local, climate-resilient food sources. Specifically, hydroponics is an alternative production system with a resilient adaptation strategy. It can operate year-round in various climate and soil conditions, based on efficient resource use and the promotion of environmental sustainability.
• SDG 17 – Partnerships for the Goals: The project aligns with SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) by fostering collaboration across countries, regions, and sectors to promote sustainable development. Through South-South and triangular cooperation, the project encourages knowledge exchange, technology transfer, and joint action, leveraging diverse expertise from various stakeholders. This collaborative approach helps enhance local capacity, strengthens partnerships for sustainable agriculture, and supports innovative solutions to food security and education, ultimately advancing global cooperation for achieving the SDGs.

The solution’s innovation lies in its integration of education, agriculture, and technology within a community-centered model that empowers students and provides real-time solutions to local food security. This holistic approach is scalable and adaptable to other regions with similar needs. Data and research support from UNOSSC and partners will be critical in understanding the broader environmental impacts, such as carbon reductions from decreased food transportation and enhanced ecosystem services through the gardens.

Solution impact

This solution is expected to have significant economic, social, and environmental impacts:

• Economic Impact: The hydroponic gardens will create sustainable food production models that generate revenue from the sale of crops, which will be reinvested into the project, ensuring long-term viability. The integration of technology will provide job opportunities for youth, particularly in the tech and agriculture sectors.
• Social Impact: By involving students, teachers, and local communities, the project fosters social cohesion and promotes knowledge sharing. It empowers students by providing them with the skills to address global challenges like food insecurity and climate change. Furthermore, the project strengthens community resilience, providing a local source of fresh, nutritious food.
• Environmental Impact: The project will significantly reduce water usage (by 80%) compared to traditional farming. The integration of smart technology to monitor environmental conditions will also ensure efficient resource use and reduce carbon emissions associated with food production and transportation, including crop-diseases appearance.

Impact will be measured through key indicators like:

• Increased food production per square meter of land in urban areas.
• Water savings, energy efficiency improvements, and CO2 emission reduction
• Students’ engagement and skills acquisition through surveys and feedback.
• Revenue generation and project sustainability.

The Huerto Smart 3.0 hydroponic garden solution in Bolivia offers a unique, adaptable approach to sustainable agriculture, addressing challenges that traditional farming and other solutions don’t fully cover. By utilizing hydroponics, it enables local communities to grow fresh, nutritious produce in urban and peri-urban areas, even where arable land is limited, setting it apart from conventional farming, which is often land- and water-intensive.

This solution provides a scalable, resource-efficient model that doesn’t rely on soil or traditional irrigation systems. In water-scarce regions, it supports high-yield production with significantly less water. The integration of a digital monitoring application further enhances its impact by providing real-time data to optimize crop management.

No other solution specifically targets both urban and peri-urban areas facing food security and climate challenges at this scale. The Huerto Smart 3.0 strengthens climate resilience while meeting local food production needs and reducing the carbon footprint of food transport.

Through its extensive network, UNOSSC can elevate this innovative solution by highlighting how it fills a critical gap in sustainable food production, promoting its replication in other climate-affected regions and demonstrating its potential for broader adoption.

Replicability / scalability

This solution demonstrates strong scalability, offering the flexibility to be replicated across various geographic regions both within Bolivia and internationally. Its modular design allows for easy adaptation to diverse settings, including schools, hospitals, Horphanages, community centers, and other urban or rural spaces. The integration of hydroponics, paired with smart technology, ensures the solution’s viability in urban environments where space and resources are often constrained. This makes it particularly suitable for densely populated cities, where conventional agricultural methods face significant challenges.

For the 2025 phase, the project is focused on scaling its efforts within the department of La Paz, with the city of El Alto being one of the primary locations for implementing the model. This expansion will serve as a critical testing ground for the adaptability of the solution in high-density urban areas with complex logistical challenges. Over the course of 2025, the project plans to set up hydroponic gardens that are tailored to local needs, providing fresh produce and contributing to community resilience in urban settings. However, the internal planning of the World Food Programme (WFP) envisions expanding the initiative across major urban centers in Bolivia by 2026 (such as Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Cochabamba, Tarija, Oruro, Potosi, Riberalta, Cobja, and Potosi), contingent on funding availability. This will allow for broader coverage across the country, ensuring more communities benefit from the solution.

The model is designed with flexibility in mind, making it equally applicable to rural communities where food security and climate adaptation are urgent priorities. As the project demonstrates success in La Paz and El Alto, it will be poised for regional expansion. The success of the initiative in urban Bolivia could then pave the way for scaling the model to neighboring countries that share similar environmental and socio-economic challenges. The modular nature of the solution—able to scale from smaller community initiatives to larger urban projects—enables the project to adapt to the needs of different populations, ensuring long-term sustainability.

The global and regional school feeding events, managed and coordinated by WFP in 2025, including the Second Global Summit of the School Meals Coalition in Brazil, will be pivotal in showcasing the project’s success and fostering knowledge-sharing with governments and international partners. These events will serve as platforms to engage stakeholders, generate interest from other countries, and facilitate the replication and adaptation of the hydroponic model in various global contexts. The insights gained from these discussions will be invaluable in expanding the initiative’s reach and ensuring its adaptability to diverse cultural, geographic, and economic settings.

As the project progresses, these international forums will offer essential opportunities to connect with policy makers, development agencies, and local stakeholders, further reinforcing the project’s scalability and global impact. This collaboration will not only support the implementation of sustainable agricultural practices but also encourage cross-border cooperation and the exchange of best practices for climate resilience and food security.

Ultimately, this solution’s scalability is a key factor in addressing global challenges such as climate change, food insecurity, and students’ empowerment, with the potential to transform communities worldwide by adapting to the specific needs of each region.

Cooperation potential

This project presents a highly impactful opportunity for South-South and Triangular cooperation, focusing on knowledge exchange, climate resilience, and sustainable development—all of which are critical areas of concern for many countries in the Global South. By facilitating meaningful collaborations across borders, this project seeks to empower local communities to tackle some of the most urgent challenges of our time maximizing resources and capabilities. Through the huerto smart initiative aimed at setting-up hydroponics gardens in urban areas through a remote monitoring device, the project has already earned international recognition for addressing critical issues such as food insecurity, climate change adaptation, and youth empowerment in vulnerable regions. The recognition underscores its potential to catalyze change, offering innovative, scalable solutions to these complex problems.

The solution’s impact is particularly notable in Bolivia, where it is facilitating collaboration between various local departments and major cities. This local success serves as a foundation for scaling the initiative to other countries facing similar socio-economic and environmental challenges. Cities in Latin America, such as Lima (Peru), Bogotá and Medellín (Colombia), Quito (Ecuador), and Guatemala City (Guatemala), have been identified as key candidates for expanding the initiative. These urban centers, with their diverse and growing populations, are highly susceptible to the effects of climate change and food insecurity, making the solution particularly relevant. Moreover, the hydroponic garden model—the core of the initiative—is designed to be adaptable to various regional contexts, ensuring its effectiveness across a range of geographies and socio-economic conditions. This adaptability is further enhanced by the private sector’s technological support, which ensures the inclusion of cutting-edge solutions tailored to local needs.

In addition to being a powerful tool for regional collaboration, the Cerebelum system is an excellent example of triangular innovation. The Cerebelum system is an advanced technological solution that remotely manages the operational parameters of hydroponic gardens. Developed by Cruz Verde, it allows users to control key functions such as lighting, ventilation, and water pumping from mobile devices, optimizing the cycle of nutrients and light for the plants. The technology minimizes the need for constant physical monitoring. Additionally, the system allows real-time adjustments to address issues like leaks or temperature fluctuations. By automating processes, Cerebelum reduces the logistical burden on schools, facilitating management and promoting a focus on learning. Future updates envisioned with WFP will integrate advanced sensors to monitor environmental conditions and further optimize productivity.This technology enables Bolivian students to work alongside tech experts to create a smart farming system that integrates advanced technology with traditional agricultural knowledge. This cross-border collaboration strengthens South-South cooperation and supports the development of technological expertise in Bolivia. By introducing innovative solutions such as the Cerebelum system, the project paves the way for scalable technological applications that can be adapted in other countries, creating a robust, sustainable model for future innovation.

This initiative is directly aligned with the needs of the Global South, particularly in addressing climate change impacts on agricultural systems and promoting food security. WFP’s partnership with organizations like Cruz Verde La Paz and Movimiento Propacha, under the guidance of the Alcaldía de La Paz, will create a collaborative environment where local knowledge is combined with international expertise. These partnerships ensure that the project not only addresses the technological aspects of food production but also focuses on capacity-building within the community. The solution provides young people with critical skills in both agriculture and technology, enabling them to become agents of change in their own communities and future leaders in sustainable development. The collaboration also reinforces ties between the public sector and local communities, promoting social cohesion, replicability, adaptability of solutions to different contexts and fostering long-term sustainability.

We are particularly excited about the upcoming global platforms that will showcase the project’s potential to inspire regional collaboration. The World Food Programme (WFP), in partnership with the Government of Honduras, will be hosting the XI Regional School Feeding Forum from June 10-12, 2025, in San Pedro Sula, providing an excellent opportunity to share results and lessons learned of the project with countries in the region. This forum will serve as an essential venue for exchanging knowledge, lessons learned, and best practices to scale the hydroponic garden model to other regions in need. Additionally, the Second World Summit of the School Meal Coalition will take place in Fortaleza, Brazil, on September 18-19, 2025, bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders to discuss innovations in food security, nutrition, and school meal programs. This summit will further facilitate cross-regional knowledge-sharing, providing a platform for collaboration and action.

Overall, UNOSSC can position the Smart Huerto 3.0 solution as a prime example of South-South cooperation by highlighting Bolivia’s initiative and encouraging other countries to adopt similar approaches. By fostering triangular cooperation (involving multiple countries and development partners), UNOSSC can help scale the solution to new regions with similar challenges. Furthermore, UNOSSC can facilitate connections between key stakeholders, including governments, international organizations, the private sector, and local communities. By creating strategic partnerships, UNOSSC can introduce the Smart Huerto solution to broader regional and global audiences, increasing its recognition and fostering collaboration.

We look forward to engaging with these significant events and leveraging their momentum to advance the Huerto Smart 3.0, as well as to encourage greater participation from international organizations and government entities. Through these opportunities, we aim to broaden the impact of the project, foster greater international cooperation, and ensure that the solution continues to scale and meet the challenges of food insecurity and climate adaptation across the Global South.

Territory coverage

Initially, the project will focus on urban areas of La Paz, where there is a clear need for innovative solutions to food insecurity and sustainable agriculture. As part of the current proposal, WFP is also meant to scale-up the solution in the Alto city. Future plans include expanding the program to peri-urban and rural communities in Bolivia, as well as exploring opportunities to scale internationally through South-South and Triangular Cooperation with countries in the Global South facing similar challenges in agriculture, climate change, and youth development.

Collaborators

The project is led by a multidisciplinary team with expertise in agriculture, technology, and school feeding. The initial team includes:

• Alessandro Valori, Head of Programme, WFP, Bolivia.
• Mirko Delfin, Strategic Outcome Manager, Resilience, WFP Bolivia.
• Carlos Pantoja, Head of TEC, WFP Bolivia.
• Alex Lozan, Head of Innovation, WFP Regional Bureau Panama.
• Sarah Kaye KOHNSTAMM, Head of School Feeding and Social Protection, WFP Regional Bureau Panama.
• Raphael Leao, Head of Resilience, WFP Regional Bureau Panama.
• Ana Carolina Martinez Quintero de Chanis, Programme and Policy Officer (Climate), WFP Regional Bureau Panama.
• Jean Paul Humerez, Head of Nutritional Food Planning Program from Alcaldia de la Paz
• Guillermo Mallea – Executive Director of Movimiento Propacha, responsible for overall project management, partnerships, and community engagement.
• Félix Angulo – General Manager of Cruz Verde, overseeing the smart technology development and implementation of the Cerebelum system.
• Agricultural Experts – In charge of hydroponic system setup, crop management, and sustainable farming practices.
• Trainers and Educators – Focused on providing hands-on training to students and teachers, ensuring the success of the educational component.

Each team member contributes their unique strengths, from project coordination and technological expertise to agricultural know-how, ensuring the solution’s success and sustainability.