Innovators from Kenya’s Arid and Semi-Arid Lands claimed the top two national awards at the ninth Young Scientists Kenya National Science and Technology Exhibition, showing how homegrown technology can tackle drought, food insecurity and water scarcity.
Hafsa Ibrahim Adan and Asha Harun Yarow of Senior Chief Adano Girls Day Secondary School in Wajir County took First Place Overall for their AI-based system that predicts drought risk for climate-vulnerable communities in North Eastern Kenya. The system pulls data from sensors tracking soil moisture, temperature, humidity and rainfall, then uses an AI model to generate a drought-risk score, a confidence level, and an estimate of how many days remain before drought conditions set in — giving farmers time to prepare irrigation and protect crops and livestock.
Second place went to Halima Aila Mohamed, Sake Hussein Tadicha and Manal Mohamed of Zad Muslim School in Marsabit County for Eco-Guard, an automated smart garden. It pairs a protected greenhouse with automated irrigation and temperature control: a soil-moisture sensor triggers a pump when the soil dries out, and a temperature sensor opens a roof vent when the garden overheats.
A Bigger, More Diverse Field
Held at Moi Girls High School in Nairobi under the theme “Shaping Kenya’s AI Future Using STEM,” the exhibition featured 308 finalists from 125 schools, drawn from over 1,500 submissions nationwide. Girls formed the majority of participants and were prominent among the winners, and more than 20 students from refugee camps competed with UNICEF support, several winning awards.
Chief Guest Mahboob Bajwa, UNICEF Kenya’s Deputy Representative for Programmes, said the projects showed young people must be central to Kenya’s tech future, noting that AI is reshaping how societies learn and solve problems in agriculture, education, health and climate resilience.
Prizes and Next Steps
The overall winners, Hafsa and Asha, each receive KSh 50,000, a fully funded STEM scholarship at Strathmore University, a Safaricom smartphone, and an all-expenses-paid trip to represent Kenya at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in Dublin.
Evelyn Maris, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Ireland in Kenya — a founding partner of the program since 2017 — said the initiative draws on Ireland’s own Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, running since the 1960s, which helped shape Ireland’s STEM ecosystem.
All category winners will join a STEM Boot Camp with industry partners to refine their prototypes and learn about intellectual property protection. Students also engaged with tech professionals, including at the Oracle booth, where they explored how businesses use AI and cloud tools for data analysis and decision-making.
Looking Ahead
National Director Dr. Victor Mwongera said the exhibition’s diversity reflects its core message: “It is not a lack of resources that hampers innovation, but rather a lack of opportunity.” He highlighted the strong showing from refugee students and rising female participation.
For its tenth year, Young Scientists Kenya aims to grow from 308 to more than 500 finalists, expand public engagement, deepen industry partnerships, and create mentorship opportunities for past participants now in higher education or careers. Since launching nine years ago, the program has reached more than 280,000 students across Kenya.