The project sets up to submit an expression of interest to the call for innovation research grants on responsible artificial intelligence for climate action which is made up of organizations located in Tanzania. This project will be the hub of fundamental and applied participatory research through the exploitation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and inclusivity for sustainable carbon-neutrality and climate-resilient green growth development in Tanzania and Africa at large.

It is obvious that the rapid population growth and its corresponding effects like the expansion of human settlement, and increasing agricultural land and industry lead to deforestation and forest degradation which have contributed to climate variability and change in most parts of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), especially in Tanzania. The project, therefore, sets itself the objective of using the integrated potential of AI, other ICT techniques, and expertise from LiSBE and MEWES to enable the modeling of reliable research results to forecast and predict climate action in order to avoid, mitigate and or adapt to the consequences of climate change. Therefore, this project intends to support two postgraduate students (selection will consider gender inclusivity) in order to increase the critical mass of experts and leaders in the area, as well as enhance capacity through supervision and short training courses targeting stakeholders in Tanzania and Africa at large. The research topics will focus on 6 priority research topics of the call, i.e.: emission of greenhouse gases, predicting climate hazards and disasters, assessment of impacts of climate change and adaptation practices using AI, Gender, Responsible AI and climate science, climate change and biodiversity, climate- smart agriculture, and smart cities development. Hence, this project will consist of (i) the use of AI, wireless sensors, other IoT, drones, and Mobile App to collect, forecast, predict, and monitor levels of CO2 and heat/smoke for forest-fire detection, deforestation activities, noise/vibration to detect unauthorized tree cutting, nano-sensors for tree health and tree counting; (ii) response techniques and strategies for prevention of the impacts of climate changes (precision agriculture, water sprinklers, predict the number of trees to be planted, O2 emitters, alternative sources of energy for cooking, etc.); and (iii) creation of publicly accessed data repository and transfer the knowledge (policy-briefs and training) to the community and the stakeholders for business gain and formation of jointly fight on the causes of climate change.

In line with this objective, the project aims at facilitating the dissemination and mobilization of these results by first ensuring links between the project consortium, the business community, decision-makers, public, private, and civil society actors, and organizations that represent, work with, or intend to work with communities vulnerable to climate variability in Africa. This will enable faster development and deployment of AI innovations to advance climate action policies and practices. In addition, the consortium will stimulate new activities in the commercialization of applied R&D. Lastly, this project will contribute to the responsible development of AI-based tools in priority sectors of green in order to promote and enhance sustainable carbon neutrality and climate-resilient green growth development in Africa at large.