Amina Ali

Pioneered affordable agricultural technology in Ethiopia, empowering small-scale farmers.

Amina Ali (b. 1978) is a visionary entrepreneur and engineer from Ethiopia who revolutionized small-scale farming through her innovative irrigation systems. Growing up in a rural village with limited access to water resources, Amina witnessed firsthand the challenges farmers faced in sustaining crops during droughts. After studying mechanical engineering at Addis Ababa University, she founded Green Harvest Technologies in 2003, developing low-cost solar-powered irrigation kits. These systems reduced water usage by 40% while increasing crop yields by up to 60%, directly benefiting over 15,000 farming households. Amina's work earned her the UN Young Leaders Award in 2015 for her contribution to SDG 2 (Zero Hunger). Her advocacy for gender equality in STEM led to the establishment of the Ethiopian Women in Technology Network, training 500+ women engineers by 2020. Amina's TED Talk "How Tech Can Feed Africa" has been viewed over 2 million times, inspiring global agricultural innovators.