Leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Satellite Remote Sensing Data for Decision-making in the African Agricultural Sector

27 April 2023. Leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Satellite Remote Sensing Data for Decision-making in the African Agricultural Sector.

• CONCEPT NOTE
• Afica Agriculture Watch factsheet
• MEET THE SPEAKERS
• You can watch the promotional video, short highlights, and full session recording on our playlist here. All presentations made at the event can be accessed here. Please take a minute to read this piece by Dr. Ousmane Badiane, published on African Business Magazine, as well as Dr. Racine Ly’s blog post on Farming First.
• To learn more about AAgWa (www.aagwa.org), please read the brochure and factsheet. A complete catalogue of AKADEMIYA2063’s knowledge products can be downloaded here. We invite you to join our mailing list to keep abreast with news on our events, research, and stakeholder engagement activities.
• Finally, please check out the list of media news items resulting from the session. We look forward to welcoming you to our future events.

AKADEMIYA2063 developed Africa Agriculture Watch (AAgWa). Launched in 2021, AAgWa is a web-
based platform that employs cutting-edge machine learning techniques and satellite remotely sensed data to predict agricultural yields and production levels of several crops across Africa to support decision making, monitoring, crisis management, and effective intervention planning in local communities. 

From a digital platform that intends to contribute to reducing the data gap in the African agricultural sector, the second phase of AAgWa, as the fourth core program at AKADEMIYA2063, hosted the organization’s efforts in facilitating the adoption and use of emerging technologies by African countries 

The event facilitated a high level stakeholder engagement around the use of AI and emerging technologies to drive agricultural productivity and strengthen resilience across Africa. The event mobilized participation from
policymakers, research organizations, farmers’ organizations, development partners, and think tanks, among others, to deliver on the following specific objectives: 

1. Assess and reflect on the state of agricultural data availability in Africa and challenges and
   opportunities for data generation and use. 
2. Analyze AAgWa’s value proposition and discuss how the web platform is facilitating access to agricultural data while leveraging AI and other emerging technologies to fill the data gap;
3. 
   Delve into the AAgWa scope of intervention, touching on remote sensing, AI in agriculture, and AI in climate adaptation and mitigation; 
4. Discuss opportunities for better policy outcomes across Africa as a result of evidence-based decision-making facilitated by AAgWa’s crop production forecasts; 
5. Engage with leading experts, practitioners, and policymakers in AI, agriculture, and climate. 

Related:

27/03 PAEPARD blogpost Forum for the future of agriculture: Microsoft wants data driven agriculture to be democratized. MS wants the benefits of data and AI to reach every farmer anywhere in the world. 

14/03 Announcing Microsoft Azure Data Manager for Agriculture: Accelerating innovation across the agriculture value chain

See interview with Ranveer Chandra, Managing Director for Research for Industry, and CTO of Agri-Food, Microsoft - How we can use technology to better serve biodiversity?

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