Kenyan's revolutionary AI-powered pest detector saves farmers, wins prestigious award
Kenyan computer programmer Esther Kimani has made headlines with her groundbreaking device that alerts farmers of crop infestations, winning the top prize at the tenth Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation.
Her innovative solution, a solar-powered AI pest detection tool, was awarded first place during a live final event in Nairobi, Kenya, on June 13, 2024.
Kimani’s patented early crop pest and disease detection device leverages machine learning-enabled cameras to help farmers identify agricultural pests and diseases early. This early detection capability has reduced crop loss by up to 30% while boosting yields by as much as 40%.
Kimani, inspired by her parents who were smallholder farmers, developed this device to combat the significant income loss due to pests and diseases, an issue she witnessed firsthand during her childhood.
“My parents would lose up to 40% of their crops each farming season, which affected our standard of living. We are empowering smallholder farmers, many of whom are women, to increase their income. We aim to scale to one million farmers in the next five years,” Kimani said.
Her device employs advanced computer vision algorithms and machine learning to detect and identify crop pests, pathogens, or diseases and notify farmers via SMS.
Kenya’s estimated five million smallholder farmers lose an average of 33% of their crops to pests and diseases annually. Kimani's device, offered at a monthly lease of $3, presents a cost-effective alternative to hiring drones or agricultural inspectors. It provides real-time alerts within five seconds of detecting an infestation and offers tailored intervention suggestions.
The annual Africa Prize, established by the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2014, supports innovators developing sustainable and scalable engineering solutions to local challenges in Africa.
This year's competition has expanded the Africa Prize alumni community to nearly 150 entrepreneurs from 23 countries. Collectively, these innovators have created over 28,000 jobs and benefitted more than 10 million people across the continent through their products and services.
Winning a cash award of £50,000, Kimani is the third woman to secure this prestigious accolade in the prize's decade-long history. Following in the footsteps of fellow Kenyan Norah Magero, who won in 2022 for her innovation VacciBox, a small, mobile, solar-powered fridge that safely stores and transports temperature-sensitive medicines such as vaccines, for use in field vaccinations and in off-grid hospitals and Ghanaian tech entrepreneur Charlette N'Guessan who won in 2020 for her innovation BACE API, which uses facial recognition and artificial intelligence to verify identities remotely.
