Esther Kimani has been named as the winner of Africa’s biggest engineering prize, the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation. Her early crop pest and disease detection device was selected as the winning innovation for its ability to swiftly detect and identify agricultural pests and diseases, reducing crop losses for smallholder farmers by up to 30%, while increasing yields by as much as 40%.
Kimani is the third woman to win the Africa Prize, receiving £50 000 for her achievement. Five million smallholder farmers in Kenya lose on average 33% of their crops to pests and diseases. Kimani’s innovation not only provides real-time alerts within five seconds of an infestation, offering tailored intervention suggestions, but also alerts government agricultural officers to the presence of diseases or pests, contributing to broader agricultural management efforts.
The solar-powered tool uses computer vision algorithms and advanced machine learning to detect and identify crop pests, pathogens or diseases, and also 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.
The annual Africa Prize was founded by the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2014 to support innovators developing sustainable and scalable engineering solutions to local challenges in Africa. 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 benefited more than 10 million people through their innovative products and services.
Kimani said: “My parents would lose up to 40% of their crops each farming season. 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 received £50 000 to further develop the device. This is the largest amount awarded to a winner, in honour of the tenth anniversary of the prize.
The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, founded by the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2014, is Africa’s biggest prize dedicated to developing African innovators and helping them to maximise their impact. It gives commercialisation support to ambitious African innovators developing scalable engineering solutions to address local challenges, demonstrating the importance of engineering as an enabler of improved quality of life and economic development.
The Africa Prize includes an eight-month training and mentoring programme, during which experts provided tailored, one-on-one support designed to accelerate and strengthen the businesses of each member on the shortlist. Training covers business plans, scaling, recruitment, IP protection, sector-specific engineering mentoring, communication, financing, and commercialisation. Support from the Royal Academy of Engineering connects the alumni to global networks who can accelerate their business and technology development, including fellow entrepreneurs, mentors, potential investors, and suppliers. The prize offers lifelong support through its alumni network.
For more information contact Ben Harris, Proof Africa on behalf of the Royal Academy of Engineering,
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