Olamilekan Waheed

Nigerian developer of AI-powered farming app FarmPal to empower smallholder farmers

Olamilekan Waheed (b. 1995) is a Nigerian software engineer whose FarmPal app has transformed agricultural productivity for West African smallholder farmers. This Yoruba innovator's work addresses food security challenges while bridging the digital divide in rural communities, earning him the African Innovation Foundation's Award for Engineering in 2022.

Growing up in Osun State, Olamilekan witnessed how farmers lost 30% of crops annually due to lack of timely information. His FarmPal app (launched 2020) uses satellite imagery and AI to provide real-time crop monitoring, weather forecasts, and market price alerts via basic feature phones. The app's offline functionality and local language support (Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo) have made it accessible to 1.2 million farmers across 6 countries.

Key innovations include the pest detection feature using smartphone photos to identify crop diseases with 98% accuracy, and the blockchain-based supply chain tracking system that connects farmers directly to buyers. A 2023 study by the World Bank showed FarmPal users increased yields by 40% and income by $1,500 annually on average.

Olamilekan's social enterprise model includes training 5,000+ youth as 'Tech Farmers' to maintain local app infrastructure. Partnerships with governments in Nigeria and Ghana have integrated FarmPal into national agricultural programs. Featured in World Economic Forum and TechCrunch, his vision is to reach 10 million African farmers by 2025.