Affiliation: Jomo of Agriculture and Technology, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Department Specialization: Agricultural Engineering Research interest: Agricultural mechanization, postharvest handing, use of renewable energy for agriculture produce processing, preservation and value addition, simulation and modelling of agricultural systems Goal: To enhance livelihoods through research, innovation, capacity building and community social responsibility Ongoing Research and Innovation Projects InteAgriEnergy_Banana Project The project is an integrated agri-energy system for sustainable banana farming for improved livelihoods of smallholder farmers in . It is an adaptive research project which is multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional. It is led by JKUAT (PI) and Taita Taveta University (Co-PI) and has other partners including: KALRO, Egerton University, Kenya University, SACDEP Kenya, PAMAT Industries Ltd, Mucho Mangoes Ltd and FOs in Nyeri, Tharaka Nithi and Taita Taveta counties. The project is funded by the World Bank through KALRO under the Kenya Climate Smart Agricultural Project (2020- 2022).

Solar PV Film Technology Project The project brings together University of Newcastle (UK), Power Roll (UK)-a private industry and JKUAT (Kenya). The focus is the development and demonstration of a unique low cost off-grid scalable PV technology for international development. The solar PV film has been deployed at JKUAT for calibration and testing then later on it will be used by Mitooini Irrigation Phase II Cooperative Society in Kangai Location of Kirinyaga County for enhancement of performance of an evaporative charcoal cooler for preservation of various agricultural produce. The project is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), UKAID (2019-2020). It will benefit one (1) MSc. Student and the farmer group in Kirinyaga county. Recently Completed Research and Innovations Projects RE4Food Project This was a multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional project comprising of University of Newcastle (UK), Njala University (), JKUAT (Kenya), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (), Stellenbosch University (South Africa), Kassel University (Germany) and Practical Action (UK and Kenya). The project focused on use of efficient renewable energy for rural food processing to improve rural livelihoods. It was funded by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), UKAID (2013-2017). One (1) MSc. and One (1) PhD students and two farmer groups benefited from the project.

The Shujaa Tractor Project The Shujaa tractor is an innovation from a project on ‘Transfer of Indian farm and food processing machinery to promote food security in Kenya’. It was funded by USAID-Indian (2013- 2017) under the partnership of Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI), JKUAT and Numerical Machining Complex Ltd. A total of 11 counties from the Eastern and Western regions of Kenya benefited from the project. The Shujaa tractor has been profiled by the Research, Production and Extension division of JKUAT and has attracted a lot of interest for commercialization within and outside Kenya. It has been recognised by the Framework Convention on Climate Change (2016 and 2018) on effective knowledge-sharing and practical learning on climate adaptation technologies through South–South and triangular cooperation.

Consultancy for JKUAT Training of existing university and technical institutes’ staff at Masters and Doctorate Levels Prof. Kanaii chaired an adhoc committee that prepared and successfully bid for funds from the African Development Bank (AfDB) through the then Ministry of Education, Science and Technology for training of the above staff (2014-present) in Engineering (MSc. and PhD in coal technology; PhD in electrical engineering; MSc. and PhD in mechanical engineering; MSc. and PhD in agricultural processing engineering; MSc. and PhD in civil engineering) and Applied Sciences (MSc. and PhD in geothermal sciences) for JKUAT. A total of 119 postgraduate students (61 PhDs. and 58 MScs) have benefited from this sponsorship. Email: [email protected] Mobile: +254 721351700