KNUST students win Pan African AI Summit Hack-AI-Thon with cocoa waste solution

A student-led team from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has emerged as the winner of the 2026 Pan African AI Summit Hack-AI-Thon with an artificial intelligence-powered solution designed to help cocoa farmers turn discarded cocoa pod husks into an additional source of income.

The team, known as Husker AI, secured first place at the competition held as part of the second edition of the Pan African AI & Innovation Summit, which took place on September 22–23, 2026, at the Kempinski Hotel in Accra. The summit brought together stakeholders from across Africa and the diaspora around the development of the continent’s artificial intelligence and innovation ecosystem.

According to KNUST’s College of Science, the Hack-AI-Thon received more than 200 applications, which were narrowed to 25 teams that pitched their solutions at the AI Hub in Accra. Five teams subsequently advanced to the final stage, where they presented before a panel of judges and investors, with Husker AI emerging as the overall winner.

The winning team received a US$1,000 cash prize and special startup mentorship.

The Team Behind HuskerAI
KNUST’s College of Science identifies Frank Agyare and Caleb Antwi from the Department of Computer Science and Wilhelmina Adjah from the Department of Business Administration as the members of the student-led team behind the winning solution.

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The wider team information provided to Ghana Evening News also identifies Elijah Ayinomba as a backend engineer and Joseph Amankwaah as a software engineer.

The achievement adds to an earlier recognition for Husker AI at the Ghana AI Innovation Challenge, where the team finished as runner-up and received a Certificate of Commendation. The inaugural challenge was won by Omaya Care, an AI-powered maternal-health solution.

Turning Cocoa Waste Into Value
Husker AI is designed to address the underutilisation of cocoa pod husks, the outer portion of cocoa pods that is commonly left on farms, burned or allowed to decompose.

The platform uses AI to help farmers assess their cocoa pod husks through a smartphone. According to KNUST, the system is designed to count or estimate the quantity of husks, assess their quality, estimate their market value in local currency and connect farmers with potential buyers.

The solution also seeks to connect farmers with businesses that can use cocoa pod husks as raw materials for products including livestock feed, organic fertiliser and biochar.

By creating a link between farmers with cocoa-husk waste and businesses that can use the material, Husker AI aims to turn an agricultural by-product into a potentially valuable commodity while addressing waste-management challenges.

The project is being developed with the realities of smallholder farmers in mind. Its proposed features include offline functionality and support for local languages such as Twi, Ewe and Fante, making the platform more accessible in farming communities where internet connectivity can be limited.

From Competition to Real-World Application

The team says its next phase will focus on developing Husker AI beyond the competition environment.

Among its priorities are expanding its local image dataset with cocoa pod husk samples from farming communities, improving the AI models, piloting the platform with farmers and cooperatives, engaging agricultural extension officers and strengthening relationships with potential buyers.

These steps will be important in determining how effectively the concept can operate under real farming conditions and whether the technology can deliver reliable estimates of quantity, quality and market value.

The idea has already attracted attention within Ghana’s technology and agricultural innovation ecosystem. KNUST’s Department of Computer Science described the project as an example of interdisciplinary collaboration between computing and business students to address practical challenges through technology.

A Growing African AI Ecosystem
The Pan African AI & Innovation Summit, held under the theme “Scaling Africa’s Ethical AI & Innovation Ecosystem: Building Youth Capacity, Policy, Partnerships and Skills,” brought together government, academia, businesses, startups and other stakeholders from across Africa and the diaspora.

The summit's official platform says the 2026 edition attracted more than 1,000 delegates from over 40 countries, with discussions spanning AI innovation, skills development, policy, partnerships and Africa’s digital future.

Husker AI’s victory places KNUST students among young African innovators developing technology to solve local challenges.

For the team, the achievement represents more than a competition prize. It offers an opportunity to further develop a solution that connects artificial intelligence, agriculture, sustainability, and income generation around one of Ghana’s most important agricultural commodities.

From cocoa pod husks traditionally treated as waste to a potential source of economic value, Husker AI is seeking to demonstrate how locally developed AI solutions can address practical challenges within Ghana’s agricultural value chain.