AfriClimate AI is a grassroots community focused on leveraging artificial intelligence to tackle climate challenges in Africa. We spoke to Amal Nammouchi, one of the co-founders of AfriClimate AI, about the inspiration behind the initiative, some of their activities and projects, and plans for the future. Everything started last year at the Deep Learning Indaba in Ghana. The Deep Learning Indaba is the largest African AI community gathering and it happens once a year. The spark for AfriClimate AI came from a workshop with the work of one of our co-founders Rendani Mbuvha.

The Deep Learning Indaba 2024 was not just another event for us--it was a reunion. For AfriClimate AI, the Indaba represents our birthplace. It was at the Indaba 2023 in Accra, Ghana, that a pivotal conversation ignited a movement, sparking the creation of AfriClimate AI. "Last year, I was invited to give a talk about my work on Uncertainty, AI, and Climate Science at the Deep Learning Indaba in Accra, Ghana. As is usual with invited talks, one tends to focus on the successful parts of the work. But for some reason, that morning, I decided to add a slide about the challenges of working in AI and sustainability in Africa, primarily driven by the pervasive data scarcity issues. It turned out that almost everyone in the room identified with these issues. This was the birthplace of AfriClimate AI, a grassroots research community dedicated to tackling these issues head-on through capacity building, open datasets, representative benchmarks, and state-of-the-art weather forecasting models for Africa."

Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges of our time, requiring rapid action across society. As artificial intelligence tools (AI) are rapidly deployed, it is therefore crucial to understand how they will impact climate action. On the one hand, AI can support applications in climate change mitigation (reducing or preventing greenhouse gas emissions), adaptation (preparing for the effects of a changing climate), and climate science. These applications have implications in areas ranging as widely as energy, agriculture, and finance. At the same time, AI is used in many ways that hinder climate action (e.g., by accelerating the use of greenhouse gas-emitting fossil fuels). In addition, AI technologies have a carbon and energy footprint themselves. This symposium brought together participants from across academia, industry, government, and civil society to explore these intersections of AI with climate change, as well as how each of these sectors can contribute to solutions.

DUBAI: Climate change will have significant impacts on environmental, social, political, and economic systems around the world. Climate change mitigation, along with adaptation and resilience, is therefore crucial. Efforts to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 will be essential, as will efforts to prepare for the consequences of climate change and to minimize the resulting harm. Applying advanced analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) to climate challenges provides a vital way to make meaningful change at this critical moment. According to a new report from the AI for the Planet Alliance, produced in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and BCG GAMMA, 87% of public- and private-sector leaders who oversee climate and AI topics believe that AI is a valuable asset in the fight against climate change.

BAN MAI, Thailand – As a child, Manit Boonkhiew watched his grandparents plow their rice farm near Bangkok with water buffaloes, and harvest by hand. His parents switched to tractors and threshers, while he now uses a zippy drone to spray pesticide on his field. Manit, who grows rice, orchids and fruit trees on about 40 acres (16 hectares) of land in Ban Mai, is part of a community enterprise that recently acquired a drone under a Thai government program to digitize agriculture. Drones to plant seeds, and spray pesticide and fertilizers are growing in popularity in the Southeast Asian country as it grapples with a labor shortage that worsened during the coronavirus pandemic, with restrictions on movement of workers. "Labor is the biggest challenge for us -- it's hard to get, and it's expensive," said Manit, 56, a leader of the Ban Mai Community Rice Center farm that comprises 57 members with nearly 400 acres of land.