Dr. Innocent Nyalala
AI Researcher & Assistant Professor of Data Science and AI
School of Engineering and Science, IIT Madras Zanzibar
Associate Research Fellow, Wadhwani School of Data Science & AI, IIT Madras Chennai
I am passionate about leveraging Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning to create positive real-world impact, particularly in agriculture and healthcare across East Africa. As the Principal Investigator of SAAIL Lab (Sustainable AI for Agriculture & Intelligent Livelihoods) at IIT Madras Zanzibar, I lead research developing transformative AI solutions for agriculture, precision farming, crop disease detection, healthcare AI, and medical imaging in Tanzania, Kenya, and across the African continent through ethical innovation and sustainable development.
Latest News
Recent updates, achievements, and announcements
Leading transformative AI research for East Africa through ethical innovation, sustainable development, and cutting-edge technology. Our mission is to develop AI solutions that address critical challenges in agriculture and healthcare across the African continent.
Explore SAAIL LabResearch
Advancing AI for sustainable development and real-world impact
AI for Clove Quality Grading — Zanzibar, Tanzania
In collaboration with the Zanzibar State Trading Corporation (ZSTC), we develop deep learning CNN models for automated quality grading of cloves — Zanzibar's most important export spice. This work integrates computer vision with indigenous farmer knowledge to build a novel annotated Zanzibar clove dataset and AI grading pipeline that directly supports smallholder farmers and the national spice industry.
Research Interests
Current Research Projects
AI for Smart Agriculture
Developing AI techniques to enhance agricultural practices, improve resource management, and promote sustainability across East Africa. Focus on crop disease detection, yield prediction, and precision farming.
Medical Imaging - Placental Analysis
Application of AI to analyze placental images for improved maternal and fetal health diagnostics and monitoring.
Swahili Speech & Text Processing
Developing NLP tools for the Swahili language, with applications in agriculture and healthcare for East African communities.
Blockchain for Spice Supply Chain
Investigating blockchain technology to improve transparency, traceability, and efficiency in Zanzibar's famous spice supply chain.
Research Collaborations
Prof. Nirav Bhatt
Prof. Dr. Sunil Sazawal
Dr. Soumya Banerjee
Dr. Vikranth H. Nagaraja
Dr. Jiayu Zhang
Publications
Peer-reviewed research in top-tier journals and international conferences
Unifying Perspectives on Learning Biases: A Data-Centric Intervention for Holistic Fairness, Robustness, and Generalization
P. Vincent Ndowo, I. Nyalala · Trustworthy AI Workshop · Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
AI Sovereignty in the Global South: Power, Dependency, and Strategic Futures
S. Davies, V. Nagaraja, I. Nyalala, N. Bhatt, S. Banerjee · Workshop on Empowering Global South AI
Culturally Attuned and Resource-Aware Foundation Models for East African Agriculture
I. Nyalala, N. Bhatt · Deep Learning Indaba 2025 · Proceedings of Machine Learning Research
From Art to Algorithms: Co-Designing AI for Clove Grading with Zanzibar's Indigenous Experts
P. V. Ndowo, I. Nyalala · AFRICHI ACM Conference 2025
BAFNet: Deep contour-aware features for colorectal polyps segmentation
D. Zhou, N. Chen, Y. Zhu, X. Zhang, I. Nyalala et al. · Expert Systems with Applications
Rectifying the extremely weakened signals for cassava leaf disease detection
J. Zhang, B. Zhang, I. Nyalala, P. Mecha et al. · Computers and Electronics in Agriculture
Digital Sovereignty or Digital Serfdom? AI Strategies, Geopolitics, and the Quest for an Equitable Global South
S. Davies, V. Nagaraja, I. Nyalala et al. · Workshop on Private AI Governance
Prime Directives for Responsible AI for Africa: A Manifesto for Inclusive Technology
I. Nyalala et al. · Data Science Africa 2025 · Iaban University
A salient feature establishment tactic for cassava disease recognition
J. Zhang, B. Zhang, Z. Chen, I. Nyalala et al. · Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture
Online chicken carcass volume estimation using depth imaging and 3-D reconstruction
I. Nyalala, J. Zhang, Z. Chen, J. Chen, K. Chen · Poultry Science
MAIANet: Signal modulation in cassava leaf disease classification
J. Zhang, B. Zhang, C. Qi, I. Nyalala et al. · Computers and Electronics in Agriculture
Most Cited Works From 1,073+ total citations · h-index 15
A review on computer vision systems in monitoring of poultry: A welfare perspective
C. Okinda, I. Nyalala et al. · Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture · 2020
A machine vision system for early detection and prediction of sick birds: A broiler chicken model
C. Okinda, M. Lu, L. Liu, I. Nyalala et al. · Biosystems Engineering · 2019
Tomato volume and mass estimation using computer vision and machine learning algorithms: Cherry tomato model
I. Nyalala, C. Okinda, L. Nyalala, N. Makange et al. · Journal of Food Engineering · 2019 · First author
Weight and volume estimation of poultry and products based on computer vision systems: a review
I. Nyalala, C. Okinda, K. Chen, T. Korohou, L. Nyalala, Q. Chao · Poultry Science · 2021 · First author
Live citation counts at Google Scholar (sorted by citations) · ORCID
Press & In the Media
Research coverage, features, and public impact
Conferences & Speaking
Keynotes, presentations, and academic engagements
CVPR 2026 — Vision for Agriculture Workshop
CLOVES-4603: Benchmarking Texture & Deep Models for Clove Quality Grading
Denver, Colorado, USA · June 3–7, 2026ICLR 2026 — Trustworthy AI Workshop
Unifying Perspectives on Learning Biases
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil4th EAC STI Conference 2026
AI for Clove Grading · Travel Grant $980
Kigali, RwandaAlliance for AI — AI in Agriculture
AI in Agriculture: Transforming Farming for Food Security and Sustainability in Africa
Online (EAT) · Alliance4AI FuturemakersAAAI 2026 — Global South AI Workshop
AI Sovereignty in the Global South: Power, Dependency, and Strategic Futures
Singapore · Jan 20–27, 2026NeurIPS 2025 — AI Governance Workshop
Digital Sovereignty or Digital Serfdom?
Vancouver, CanadaAfriCHI ACM 2025
Co-Designing AI for Clove Grading with Zanzibar's Indigenous Experts
Cairo, Egypt · Nov 2–8, 2025Deep Learning Indaba 2025
Foundation Models for East African Agriculture · PMLR vol. 302
AfricaWSAI Faculty Talks — IIT Madras
Computing at the Edge of Possibility: Building Agricultural AI for Resource-Constrained East Africa
NPTEL CRC 302, IIT Madras, Chennai4th ZRCP Joint Annual Conference
Innovation for Public Service Delivery & Digital Economy
ZanzibarExperience & Teaching
Academic positions, institutional affiliations, and courses taught
Assistant Professor, Data Science and AI
IIT Madras Zanzibar · School of Engineering and Science · Tanzania
Oct 2024 – PresentAssociate Research Fellow
Wadhwani School of Data Science & AI, IIT Madras Chennai · India
May 2025 – PresentCourses at IIT Madras Zanzibar
Database Management Systems
Z2004 · BS Core
Relational databases, SQL, schema design, normalization, transactions, and query optimization.
Big Data Lab
Z5008 · MTech Lab
Hands-on with Apache Spark, Apache Kafka, Apache Iceberg, Delta Lake, and modern large-scale data engineering tools.
Graduated Student
Makame Mohammed Haji
MTech Graduate · July 2025
Explainable ML Models for Predicting Preterm Birth Using Metabolomics Data
IIT Madras Zanzibar · Co-supervised with Prof. Nirav Bhatt
Current MTech Students
Patrick Vincent Ndowo
Deep Learning-Based Fine-Grained Quality Grading of Zanzibar Cloves Using Computer Vision
Data Science & AI · IIT Madras Zanzibar
Twamaa Hababuu Makame
Placental Weight and Volume Estimation from 2D Images Using Deep Learning for Improved Neonatal Outcome Prediction
Data Science & AI · IIT Madras Zanzibar
Shivam Vyas
Face Data Privacy Preserving in Federated Learning
Data Science & AI · IIT Madras Zanzibar
Khamis K. Haji
MTech Research · Mar 2026 – Present
Data Science & AI · IIT Madras Zanzibar
Surabhi Gudla
MTech Research · Mar 2026 – Present
Data Science & AI · IIT Madras Zanzibar
Duen Michael
Maize Disease Identification and Classification
Co-supervised · Prof. Nirav Bhatt
IIT Madras Chennai
PhD Co-supervision — 5 candidates
Bidhan Chandra Bhattarai
Agentic AI Framework for Agricultural Technologies
Joint PhD — IIT Madras Zanzibar & Deakin University
Saide Abdulla Mbarak
Molecular Biology
Swami Vivekanand Subharti University · 2025–Present
Ali Salim Ali
Public Health and Epidemiology
SVSU · 2025–Present
Ibrahim Byatike Kabole
Public Health and Epidemiology
SVSU & SUZA · 2025–Present
Bihila Abdalla Bakari
Public Health and Epidemiology
SVSU · 2025–Present
Prospective Students
I am actively seeking motivated MTech and PhD students interested in AI for agriculture, healthcare AI, computer vision, or NLP. Join SAAIL Lab to work on cutting-edge research with real-world impact in East Africa.
Get in TouchAcademic Service
Peer reviewer, editorial board member, and committee contributor
Best Poster Award — Deep Learning Indaba 2025
Awarded the Best Poster (Publication & Dataset Category) at Deep Learning Indaba 2025 in Kigali, Rwanda for the CARA-FMs framework — a context-aware and responsible AI approach for East African agriculture. The work also received an oral presentation slot at the Responsible AI Workshop, placing SAAIL Lab's research at the centre of Africa's leading ML conference.
Peer Reviewer · 19 Journals
- Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture (IF 8.2)
- Computers and Electronics in Agriculture (IF 7.7)
- Biosystems Engineering (IF 4.4)
- Journal of Food Engineering (IF 5.3)
- Scientific Reports · Nutrire (Springer Nature)
- Electronics · Sensors · Entropy · AgriEngineering (MDPI)
- Drying Technology · Poultry Science · Smart Ag Tech
- + 6 more journals (Elsevier / Taylor & Francis / CIGR)
Editorial Board
- Discover Artificial Intelligence
Springer Nature Open Access
Responsible AI · ML · Computer Vision
Appointed Dec 2025 – Present
Institutional Service
- In-Charge, Computing Resources — IITMZ (Feb 2025)
- MTech Project Committee — IITMZ (Nov 2024)
- Faculty Recruitment Committee — IITMZ (Nov 2024)
- Former HoD, Computer Science — EAU (2017)
- Former Senate Member — EAU (2017)
Contact
Let's connect and collaborate
Primary Email
innocent@iitmz.ac.inSecondary Email
innocentnyalala@gmail.comPhone (Tanzania)
+255 753 864 855
Phone (Kenya)
+254 791 349 216
Office Address
School of Engineering and Science
IIT Madras Zanzibar Campus
Office 105, Door F6
P.O. Box 394, Zanzibar 71101, Tanzania