Joseph Nguthiru Co Founder of MC2 and the United Nations Young Champion of the Earth./PHOTO; Courtesy
Illegal logging and charcoal burning continue to threaten Kenya’s forests, accelerating deforestation, degrading biodiversity and weakening vital ecosystems.
While these activities often go undetected until significant damage has been done, Joseph Nguthiru, Co-founder of M-situ and the United Nations Young Champion of the Earth, believes artificial intelligence can help change that.
Through M-situ , Nguthiru and his team have developed an AI-powered early warning system that detects illegal logging and charcoal burning in real time, enabling authorities to respond before further damage occurs.
“We are using AI as an early warning system to detect deforestation and charcoal burning in our forests,” says Nguthiru.
The idea behind the innovation was born far from Kenya.
In 2023, while attending an Obama Foundation programme in Athens, Greece, Nguthiru witnessed devastating wildfires for the first time.
The experience left a lasting impression and sparked a conversation with his co-founder, Sam, after he returned home.
“It was my first time seeing a wildfire,” he recalls. “We asked ourselves, ‘What if we could use AI to warn people before disasters happen?'”
As they refined the concept, the team realised Kenya faced a different challenge.
“Instead of frequent wildfires, we have deforestation and charcoal burning. That’s when we adapted the technology to fit our local context.”
For the past two and a half years, M-situ has been developing smart monitoring devices equipped with machine-learning sensors capable of detecting sounds associated with illegal logging and charcoal burning.
Installed in forests, the devices identify suspicious activity, pinpoint its location and send real-time alerts to the Kenya Forest Service, enabling officers to respond quickly.
The technology is currently being piloted in partnership with the Kenya Forest Service at Ngong Forest, with another pilot underway at Konza Technopolis.
A major milestone in the company’s journey came when M-situ was selected for Cohort Two of the Young Innovators Challenge, an initiative implemented by the Kenya Community Development Foundation (KCDF) in partnership with the I&M Foundation to support youth-led environmental innovations.
Following a competitive application process, the enterprise received KSh5 million in funding through the programme, alongside mentorship and business development support.
“The support has been monumental,” says Nguthiru. “It has helped us improve our AI devices.”
He says the funding enabled the team to strengthen its technology, improve its AI-powered monitoring devices and advance pilot projects with the Kenya Forest Service and Konza Technopolis.
The innovation has also gained international recognition. M-situ was ranked among UNESCO’s Top 100 AI Innovations globally for its contribution to environmental conservation.
Beyond developing technology, the enterprise measures its impact through the ecosystems it protects. So far, its AI-powered system has helped protect about eight hectares of vulnerable forest in real time.
The team plans to expand beyond Ngong Forest to other key ecosystems, including the Mau, Aberdare and Boni forests.
Looking further ahead, Nguthiru hopes to deploy the technology in countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Spain and Portugal, where deforestation and wildfires continue to pose significant environmental challenges.
Despite the progress, building an AI enterprise in Africa has not been without challenges.
Nguthiru cites limited funding and the lack of a supportive AI policy environment among the biggest hurdles facing innovators on the continent.
“Building AI ecosystems in Africa is not as easy as building them in countries like China or the United States,” he says. “If we don’t invest in AI now, we risk being left behind.”
Beyond his work at M-situ, Nguthiru mentors fellow young innovators through peer-to-peer support, connecting them with networks, opportunities and collaborators to help grow their ideas.
He believes Africa’s rapidly growing population makes innovation more urgent than ever.
“By 2050, one in every four people in the world will be living in Africa,” he says.
“We have to use technology to ensure they have food, water, electricity and a healthy environment.”
For Nguthiru, every environmental challenge presents an opportunity for innovation.
His message to young people is simple: look closely at the problems around you because they may hold the ideas capable of transforming communities while protecting the planet.
