Students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, have won the 2026 Pan-African AI Summit Hack-AI-Thon with an artificial intelligence-powered solution that could help cocoa farmers turn discarded cocoa pod husks into an additional source of income.
Their solution, Husker AI, emerged first among more than 200 entries in the competition, earning the team a US$1,000 cash prize and startup mentorship.
The Hack-AI-Thon was held on 22 and 23 September 2026 at the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City in Accra.
The KNUST students behind the winning solution are Frank Agyare and Caleb Antwi of the Department of Computer Science and Wilhelmina Adjah of the Department of Business Administration.
The wider Husker AI team also includes Ayinomba Elijah, Head of Engineering, and Joseph Amankwah, Head of Digital Experience.
Husker AI uses artificial intelligence to help cocoa farmers estimate the quantity, quality and potential market value of cocoa pod husks, which are often discarded after cocoa beans are extracted.
Using a smartphone, farmers can take an image of a pile of cocoa pod husks for the application to analyse. The platform estimates the quantity, grades the quality of the husks and provides an indication of their potential value.
It then seeks to connect farmers with potential buyers who can use the husks as raw materials for products such as livestock feed, organic fertiliser and biochar.
The solution is also being designed to work offline and support local languages, including Twi, Ewe and Fante, to improve accessibility for farmers in communities with limited internet connectivity.
The students developed the solution around the idea that cocoa pod husks should not necessarily end their economic usefulness after the beans have been removed.
Instead, Husker AI seeks to create a marketplace around the agricultural by-product by connecting farmers who have the material with businesses that can put it to productive use.
The victory builds on an earlier achievement by the team at the 2026 Ghana AI Summit and Innovation Challenge, where Husker AI emerged runner-up and received a Certificate of Commendation.
The earlier recognition was subsequently presented to the Provost of the College of Science, Professor Philip Antwi-Agyei, in the company of the Head of the Department of Computer Science, Professor Michael Asante.
At the Pan-African AI Summit Hack-AI-Thon, more than 200 teams applied to participate, with 25 selected to pitch their solutions. Five teams advanced to the final stage to present their innovations before judges and investors.
Despite winning the competition, Husker AI remains at the prototype stage, with the students now focusing on developing the technology for use in farming communities.
The team plans to expand its local image dataset by collecting cocoa pod husk images from farming communities and retraining its artificial intelligence models to improve their performance under local conditions.
It also intends to pilot the application with cocoa farmers and cooperatives, engage agricultural extension officers and farmer-based organisations, and establish partnerships with potential buyers of cocoa pod husks.
The students hope these steps will help validate the technology and develop a reliable system connecting cocoa farmers to businesses that can make productive use of cocoa waste.
Husker AI was founded at KNUST as an interdisciplinary initiative bringing together students with expertise in computer science, artificial intelligence, engineering, design, marketing and business.
