Nairobi — Esther Kimani, a Kenyan, has been named the winner of Africa's biggest engineering prize, the Royal Academy of Engineering's Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation.
The Academy announced Kimani's win on June 13 in a live finals event.
It settled on her early crop pest and disease detection device for its ability to swiftly detect and identify agricultural pests and diseases, reducing crop losses for smallholder farmers by up to 30 percent.
"My parents would lose up to 40 per cent 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," she said.
The solar-powered tool uses computer vision algorithms and advanced machine learning to detect and identify crop pests, pathogens or diseases, as well as the nature of the infection or infestation.
The device then notifies the farmer via SMS.
This affordable alternative to traditional detection methods leases for just $3 per month, significantly cheaper than hiring drones or agricultural inspectors.
Founded by the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2014, the prize seeks to support innovators developing sustainable and scalable engineering solutions to local challenges in Africa.
Growing alumni
This year has seen the Africa Prize alumni community grow to almost 150 entrepreneurs from 23 countries, who together have generated more than 28,000 jobs and benefitted more than 10 million people on the continent through their innovative products and services.
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To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Prize, the Royal Academy of Engineering hosted the Africa Prize Alumni Reunion, bringing together 100 innovators from the past decade for a three-day programme ahead of the final ceremony.
Kimani received £50,000, the largest award since inception, to further develop the device.
The four finalists delivered their final business pitch to the Academy judges and an in-person audience of approximately 700.
Three runners up received £15,000 each to develop their innovations. They are Kenya's Kevin Maina, Rory Assandey from Côte d'Ivoire and Martin Tumusiime from Uganda.
About The Author
Bruhan Makong reports on security, human rights, and global affairs. He is passionate about uncovering the truth, amplifying the voices often drowned in silence, and holding those in power to account.
