UAE to use AI to support millions of farmers in climate fight

The UAE on Monday set out ambitious plans to use artificial intelligence to deliver a critical lifeline to millions of farmers bearing the brunt of the growing threat posed by climate change.

Abu Dhabi's AI Ecosystem for Global Agriculture Development will seek to use advanced technology to help farmers adapt quickly to extreme weather and give them access to the tools needed to cultivate a better future for the communities they support.

The high-tech strategy is the result of a major international collaboration between the UAE Presidential Court and the Gates Foundation. Its launch will build on the $200 million UAE-Gates Foundation fund announced at Cop28 in Dubai, which aims to accelerate agricultural innovation.

The announcement was made in the presence of Mariam Almheiri, head of the International Affairs Office at the UAE Presidential Court, and Bill Gates, chairman of the Gates Foundation.

Four landmark initiatives will serve as the foundation of the new ecosystem, including an agriculture and AI centre at the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence and the Agricultural Innovation Mechanism for Scale (Aim for Scale), under which an advanced weather warning system for farmers is already achieving success.

Driving global change

Internally displaced children Ali and Osman Abdulahi stand near carcasses of their family's livestock, killed by severe drought near Dollow, Somalia. Reuters Quick distribution of climate funds agreed at Cop28 will help devastated populations get back on their feet, Somalia’s Deputy Prime Minister Salah Jama has said. Reuters Commuters ride on rickshaws on a flooded road after heavy rains in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Reuters Cyclone Mocha makes landfall near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. A rise in extreme weather events around the world has been blamed on global warming caused by man-made greenhouse gases. EPA Commuters stand on a flyover, on a flooded motorway near Rampur, in India's Uttar Pradesh state, in 2021. AFP Monsoon floods and landslides killed about 100 people in Nepal and India earlier this year. AFP A man walks past a car swept by floodwaters in Abuja, Nigeria, in 2021. AFP Flooding in Kogi, Nigeria, in October 2022. AP A landslide engulfs Nyamukubi village, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.