UAE's AI Weather Forecasting Programme Trains Officials From 15 Countries

Abu Dhabi is building the foundations to get accurate weather forecasts into the hands of farmers across Africa, Asia and Latin America, as government officials from 15 countries gather this week for a specialised training programme on AI-powered weather forecasting for agriculture.

Hosted by the International Affairs Office at the UAE Presidential Court, the five-day programme runs from November 9 to 13 in Abu Dhabi and is jointly organised by Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) and the University of Chicago, in collaboration with the Agricultural Innovation Mechanism for Scale (AIM for Scale) and the National Centre for Meteorology (NCM).

Participants represent national meteorological and hydrological services and ministries of agriculture. The goal is to equip them with practical skills to use AI-powered forecasting tools and translate weather data into actionable agricultural advice for smallholder farmers.

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Dr Abdulla Ahmed Al Mandous, President of WMO and Director-General of the National Centre of Meteorology, said: "Artificial intelligence is transforming the future of weather forecasting, creating new opportunities to deliver more accurate, timely, and actionable information, particularly for sectors such as agriculture that are highly sensitive to weather and climate conditions."

The training builds on an inaugural cohort in 2025 involving Bangladesh, Chile, Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria. This year, Bolivia, Colombia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone and the UAE have joined the programme. The initiative aims to build capacity across 30 countries by 2028.

Fatema AlMulla, Head of International Relations at the International Affairs Office, UAE Presidential Court, said: "The true value of artificial intelligence lies in our ability to turn scientific innovations into practical solutions that make a tangible difference in farmers' lives."

The programme runs two tracks: AI weather forecasting model deployment and performance evaluation, and translating outputs into crop management advice and preparation guidance for extreme weather events. Each country team is expected to leave with an initial roadmap for integrating AI-powered weather forecasting into national services.

Professor Souhaib Ben Taieb, Director of M.Sc. and Ph.D. programmes in Statistics and Data Science at MBZUAI, said: "Weather forecasting for agriculture is a clear example of how AI can make a meaningful difference by improving weather predictions and supporting more informed agricultural planning."

The programme sits within the Abu Dhabi AI Ecosystem for Global Agricultural Development, launched in December 2025 and built on the USD 200 million partnership between the UAE and the Gates Foundation announced at COP28. The broader ambition is to reach 100 million smallholder farmers with AI-powered weather information by 2030.

NVIDIA has donated 14 Dell Pro Max GB10 Workstations to participating government institutions, providing computing resources for continued work after participants return home.

"AI is creating an extraordinary opportunity to transform how countries produce and deliver weather forecasts, but the real measure of success is what these advances mean for farmers," said Paul Winters, Executive Director of AIM for Scale and Professor at the University of Notre Dame's Keough School of Global Affairs.

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