Artificial intelligence for climate action innovation research network

Climate variability and change remains one of the most significant challenges for Africa in the 21st century. It threatens to undo the development gains made over the last two decades and could potentially reduce the region’s ability to attain the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Action is required to bolster the region’s capacity to urgently address the debilitating effects climate variability and change has on agricultural production, water resources and energy as well as the propagation of conflicts. Deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) in other regions of the world, especially in the Global North, has proven critical because of its ability to increase adaptation and mitigation capacity and improve the precision of evidence-based decision making.

This project will implement and manage an AI and climate change innovation research network. This network will support development and scaling of responsible AI innovations for climate action in sub-Saharan Africa, capacity building of African innovators and researchers, and the increased contribution of African research to international AI policy and practice through its integration into a global network on machine learning and AI. The hub will fund and support 10 climate-change innovation research projects as well as 10 master’s students focused on the intersection of machine learning and climate change.

This project is part of the four-year Artificial Intelligence for Development Africa (AI4D Africa) partnership between the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and IDRC to support the policy, innovations and expanded leadership that will spur responsible AI development in Africa. This network is one of five innovation research networks that will be funded through the program. The other networks are involved in work on education, gender and inclusion, agriculture and food security, and sexual and reproductive health.