BizCommunity: #AfricaMonth: Kuronga is using AI to help African farmers feed the continent

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH JONATHAN WILSON, AFTRAK PROJECT LEAD, THE WINNERS OF THIS YEAR’S MILKEN-MOTSEPE GREEN ENERGY PRIZE OF $1-MILLION. HE IS ALSO A LECTURER IN SYSTEMS AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERING AT LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY. AFTRAK IS A GROUNDBREAKING INITIATIVE THAT COMBINES SOLAR MICROGRIDS AND TAILORED TRACTORS TO EMPOWER SMALLHOLDER FARMERS ACROSS AFRICA. IT AIMS TO SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE CROP YIELDS AND SMALLHOLDER INCOMES WHILE PROVIDING ACCESS TO CLEAN, GREEN ELECTRICITY IN RURAL COMMUNITIES. CONGRATULATIONS ON WINNING THE MILKEN-MOTSEPE GREEN ENERGY PRIZE! CAN YOU SHARE A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF YOUR INNOVATION AND ITS IMPACT ON EXPANDING ACCESS TO SUSTAINABLE ELECTRICITY IN AFRICA? We’re obviously thrilled to bits to win the Milken-Motsepe Prize for Green Energy. Our innovation is around a socio-economic solution to both energy access, but also agriculture and food scarcity. So, we have a system that comprises of three main parts. The first one is a microgrid, and we put loads of work into this microgrid.