UAE Trains Officials from 15 Countries in AI-Based Weather Forecasting for Agriculture
Abu Dhabi hosts a training programme to equip officials from 15 nations with AI weather forecasting skills to aid smallholder farmers.
Abu Dhabi is hosting a specialised training programme aimed at government officials from 15 countries to enhance their capabilities in AI-powered weather forecasting for agriculture. The initiative focuses on delivering precise weather information to smallholder farmers across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
The five-day programme, held from November 9 to 13, is organised by the International Affairs Office at the UAE Presidential Court in partnership with Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), the University of Chicago, the Agricultural Innovation Mechanism for Scale (AIM for Scale), and the National Centre for Meteorology (NCM).
Participants include representatives from national meteorological and hydrological services and agriculture ministries. The training aims to provide practical skills for deploying AI forecasting tools and converting weather data into actionable advice for farmers.
Dr Abdulla Ahmed Al Mandous, President of the World Meteorological Organization and Director-General of the NCM, highlighted the transformative role of artificial intelligence in delivering more accurate and timely weather information, especially for agriculture, which is highly sensitive to climatic conditions.
This year's programme expands on the initial cohort held in 2025, which included Bangladesh, Chile, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Nigeria. New participating countries are Bolivia, Colombia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and the UAE. The initiative aims to build capacity in 30 countries by 2028.
Fatema AlMulla, Head of International Relations at the UAE Presidential Court's International Affairs Office, emphasised the importance of converting scientific innovations into practical solutions that benefit farmers directly.
The training covers two main tracks: deploying and evaluating AI weather forecasting models, and translating forecast outputs into crop management advice and preparations for extreme weather events. Each country team is expected to develop an initial plan for integrating AI-based forecasting into their national services.
Professor Souhaib Ben Taieb from MBZUAI noted that AI-enhanced weather forecasting significantly improves agricultural planning through more accurate predictions.
This programme is part of the Abu Dhabi AI Ecosystem for Global Agricultural Development, launched in December 2025. It is supported by a $200 million partnership between the UAE and the Gates Foundation announced at COP28, with the goal of reaching 100 million smallholder farmers by 2030.
To support ongoing work, NVIDIA has donated 14 Dell Pro Max GB10 Workstations to the participating government institutions.
Paul Winters, Executive Director of AIM for Scale, underscored that while AI advances weather forecasting capabilities, the ultimate success is measured by the positive impact on farmers.
What this means for you
- Government officials from 15 countries, including the UAE, are receiving training on AI weather forecasting to support agriculture.
- The programme aims to improve weather data use for smallholder farmers by 2030 through AI-powered tools.
- Participating countries will develop plans to integrate AI weather forecasting into their national agricultural services.
- NVIDIA has provided advanced computing equipment to support continued AI forecasting development after training.