Integrating Artificial Intelligence For Climate Resilience

By ABN Staff February 1, 2025

Integrating Artificial Intelligence For Climate Resilience

Artificial intelligence (AI) can help with climate change by improving energy efficiency, predicting climate patterns, and optimizing agriculture.

Africa Research and Impact Network (ARIN), a network of researchers across 36 African countries focusing on research and evidence that supports policy and capacity building is on the lead with an initiative known as the Artificial Intelligence for Climate Resilience.

Dr. Humphrey Agevi, a Research Associate at ARIN, and the lead persons on this project explains that the initiative is being funded by International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and is being implemented with the University of Nairobi.

“This is a key project aiming to build the capacity of early career researchers in regards to the AI skills. It aims at looking how it can institutionalize AI skills and outcomes within higher learning institutions in Africa. We aim to build the capacities of early career researchers, that is the master students, the PhD students and the post-doc” Explains Agevi

Integrating Artificial Intelligence For Climate Resilience

In an exclusive interview with Africa Business News, ARIN Director Dr. Joanes Atela sheds light on the initiative noting that “climate change is one of the biggest challenges of the world today. Most African countries are really suffering the impacts. African farmers are seeing significant declines in yields, we have issues of floods. So we are trying to understand ways in which artificial intelligence can be leveraged and be able to provide solution to the climate change crisis in terms of data, prediction, getting better information systems that can inform decisions, plans and preparedness in response to climate change”

Since artificial intelligence is quite wide, ARIN aims to guide people to be able to make the right decision on where they need to focus and how that can be impactful.

Dr. Atela notes that they look forward to building knowledge where publications on artificial intelligence driven by African scholars can be published, which is lacking at the moment.

“Most of the publications are driven by the Americans and the Europeans, so we want Africans to also start writing and analysing their context” He concludes