The Rijksvastgoedbedrijf (RVB) owns 45,000 hectares of agricultural land in the Netherlands. This land is leased to farmers to, for example, grow crops. In order to ensure that the land is used in a sustainable way, each plot of land has a so-called construction plan. This plan designates how the soil may be used and which crops are authorized to grow on it. It is important that the crops rotate so that the soil is not depleted. The lease contracts usually lasts six years. The user of the land can request a subsidy from the Ministry of Economic Affairs (RVO) for use these lands.
Currently there is no good method to check whether the construction plan is complied with, in other words, how the leased land is used. In addition to this, the subsidies that are issued and the issue of the leased land itself are not linked. So it is not possible to check whether the subsidy is being spent in the right way.
The RVB would like to see the following questions answered;
Challenge
Develop an innovative solution to control and prevent the improper use/fraud of leased land.
What are we looking for?
Innovative solutions that ultimately ensure that the quality and durability of the 45,000 hectares of agricultural land (the size of 90,000 football fields) is guaranteed. This requires insight into how the leased land is currently used / the degree of improper use.
As a result, a solution is expected where monitoring is robust and reliable and can be requested at any time and presented in a clear manner.
