Mariam Almheiri shines spotlight on agricultural innovation at COP29

Mariam Almheiri, Head of International Affairs at the Presidential Court, has affirmed the importance of partnerships and technological breakthroughs in transforming food systems for a changing climate, during her participation in a series of pivotal events as part of COP29 in Baku.

Following the announcement of the UAE and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Partnership on Agricultural Innovation at COP28 last year, she participated in a number of events at COP29 aimed at highlighting progress made in implementing the partnership over the last twelve months.

Almheiri participated in a fire-side chat at the UAE Pavilion co-organised by the UAE, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The event, entitled “Partnering to Create AI-based Public Goods for 500 Million Smallholders” focused on how to increase access to agricultural extension services, which hold the key to transforming the lives of hundreds of millions smallholder families worldwide.

The event discussed the potential of harnessing generative AI as powerful tool for improving the delivery and broadening access to agricultural research and extension services in climate vulnerable countries.

Almheiri said, “Extension workers and farmers could be well served by gaining access to a new generation of digital tools powered by regenerative AI technology, such as large language models. With the new pilot AgriLLM project we have launched with our global partners at COP29 we will leverage UAE’s open-access suite of Falcon LLMs to make accurate, trustworthy and transparent information available to farmers from around the world.”

She added, “As a first step, the AgriLLM will aim to act as a decision-support tool for agricultural researchers, development professionals and extension agents.”

Martien van Nieuwkoop, Director, Agricultural Development, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said, “At COP28, the United Arab Emirates and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched a new partnership to invest in agricultural innovation, responding to the urgent needs of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia for better tools and resources to help them adapt to the escalating threats of climate change.”

As part of her engagement programme in Azerbaijan, Almheiri also participated in an event focused on the Agriculture Innovation Mechanism for Scale (AIM for Scale), entitled “Empowering small-scale producers with farmer-centered weather information”.

To open the event, she participated in a Fireside chat moderated by chaired by Professor Amir Jina, the AIM for Scale Technical Panel Chair.

Speaking about the importance of the event, Almheiri said, “Imagine empowering hundreds of millions of farmers with the most critical climate knowledge they need to secure their future: weather forecasts. We’ve seen the positive impact that access to improved climate services can have on helping farmers adapt to climate change by making informed decisions about planting, harvesting and risk management.”

Speaking about the purpose behind AIM for Scale, she said, “Innovation is the lifeblood of climate action and at the heart of AIM for Scale. The UAE believes we must foster a global ecosystem that supports the development and deployment of groundbreaking technologies to accelerate our transition to a net-zero future, including reimaging our food systems.”

During the event, she also expressed UAE’s commitment to the AIM for Scale Weather Innovation Package by announcing the launch of a new AI-based Weather Forecasting Research and Training Programme. Lead by MBZUAI, the programme will work with global technical partners – including the World Meteorological Organisation, the University of Chicago and the UAE’s National Center of Meteorology to develop new techniques for using artificial intelligence to inform weather forecasts.

In addition, the programme will also provide technical training and support to more than 30 country partners over a three-year period.

Earlier in the week, Dr. Amna bint Abdullah Al Dahak, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, was joined by multilateral banks, and senior government and non-Governmental representatives, at the AIM for Scale Launch Event, hosted at the UAE Pavilion.

The event provided a platform to formally launch AIM for Scale’s first Innovation Package: a blueprint for collective action to scale access to high-quality, farmer-centered weather forecasts in LMICs which mobilised $1 billion in funding commitments.”

WAM