Dr. Theofrida Maginga, a lecturer from the Department of Informatics and Information Technology at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), was honored as the Young Researcher of the Year 2024 during the Award Giving Ceremony held on the SUA’s 44th Graduation on October 16, 2024. Recognized for her research in data-driven agricultural solutions, Dr. Maginga has focused on empowering smallholder farmers with mobile technology and precision agriculture tools that provide real-time insights to enhance crop yields and resilience against climate challenges using IoT and AI. She has created a Swahili-based AI tool, Mkulima GPT, to aid smallholder farmers in diagnosing maize diseases and managing farms.