Three Mastercard Foundation Scholars from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana — Emmanuel Nyatefe, Success Awuku-Amador, and Diana Rashid — has come up with PeculiarAI, an artificial intelligence drone technology designed for the early detection of the cocoa black pod disease via a mobile application with a GPS location system.
The three inventors hope to use artificial intelligence to solve challenges and problems in the agriculture industry in Ghana. They decided to start with black pod diseases due to the importance of cocoa to Ghana’s economy. The crop generates $1.61 billion annually from export.
The black pod disease is not easily detectible. it is difficult for farmers to locate infected cocoa trees, especially on large-scale cocoa farms. With PeculiarAI’s technology, farmers can detect and separate black-pod-infected trees with the aid of their mobile phones.
According to a 2012 Cocobod report, Ghana lost $230 million and more than 200,000 tons of cocoa, representing 25% of the annual output, due to the black pod disease.
Annually, the black pod disease pathogen can cause a loss of up to 10% of total trees and a yield loss of up to one-third. Black pod causes an average annual pod loss of about 40% in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
The disease poses a significant threat to the sustainability of Ghana’s cocoa industry — one of the world’s largest exporters—and the country’s economy as a whole.
