Kenyan innovator wins tenth Royal Academy of Engineering‘s Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation award

A Kenyan innovator, Esther Kimani has won the tenth edition of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation in Nairobi.

She took home a £50,000 cash prize and is the third woman and the second Kenyan innovator to win the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation award.

Esther Kimani emerged victorious with her innovation, a solar-powered tool that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning-enabled cameras to detect and identify agricultural pests and diseases swiftly. 

Her innovation swiftly detects and identifies agricultural pests and diseases, thereby reducing crop losses for smallholder farmers by up to 30 per cent while increasing yields by as much as 40 per cent.

Also, Kevin Maina from Kenya with his innovation Eco Tiles; Rory Assandey from Côte d’Ivoire with his innovation La Ruche Health; and Martin Tumusiime from Uganda with his innovation Yo-Waste were runners up. 

A separate award named ‘One to Watch’ was presented to Dr Abubakari Zarouk Imoro for his innovation, Myco-Substitutes and its impact on local communities.

He received a £5,000 cash prize.

Esther Kimani in her remarks said “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’s innovation would significantly transform the Kenyan agricultural landscape as about five million smallholder farmers in the country lose on average 33 per cent of their crops to pests and diseases. 

This new tool leases for just $3 per month and is significantly cheaper than hiring drones or agricultural inspectors.

The Royal Academy of Engineering founded the annual Africa Prize 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 benefitted more than 10 million people through their innovative products and services.

By Jessel Lartey Therson-Cofie