The United Arab Emirates has unveiled Abu Dhabi’s AI Ecosystem for Global Agricultural Development, a new platform designed to bring advanced AI tools to climate-vulnerable farming regions and strengthen global food resilience.
Announced in the presence of Mariam Almheiri, Head of the International Affairs Office at the UAE Presidential Court, and Bill Gates, Chair of the Gates Foundation, the launch builds on the ongoing USD 200 million UAE–Gates Foundation partnership established at COP28. The initiative aims to translate cutting edge research into practical solutions that support smallholder farmers confronting increasingly unpredictable weather.
Following the announcement, Almheiri and Gates joined the UAE–Gates Partnership Showcase, which outlined how Abu Dhabi’s research institutions and technology capabilities are powering the ecosystem. The platform is built around four major initiatives: the CGIAR AI Hub, the Institute for Agriculture and Artificial Intelligence at MBZUAI, the AgriLLM open-source model created by ai71, and AIM for Scale at NYU Abu Dhabi.
Almheiri highlighted the UAE’s commitment to using AI for global good, noting that the ecosystem is designed to deliver real tools to farmers on the ground. Gates emphasized that smallholder farmers are among the hardest hit by climate change and said the initiative will help strengthen food security worldwide.
The ecosystem operates through a collaborative network that includes Abu Dhabi institutions such as MBZUAI, NYU Abu Dhabi, and ai71, alongside global partners including the Gates Foundation, CGIAR, and the World Bank. Together, they form an innovation pipeline that spans scientific discovery, digital advisory services, open agricultural AI models, and field deployment in high risk regions.
With large scale pilots already underway, the partners aim to expand AI powered forecasting, digital tools, and climate adaptation support to millions of farmers across the Global South by 2030.
News Source: Emirates News Agency
