The Wits Climate Risk Modelling project is one of the projects receiving funding from the Bezos Earth Fund’s AI Grand Challenge for Climate and Nature.
Wits received approximately R925,000 for Phase I, to lead research aimed at transforming weather forecasting across the African continent.
The project, led by Professor Rendani Mbuvha from the Wits School of Statistics and Actuarial Science, was selected for its potential to address the continent’s lack of reliable weather data and forecasting infrastructure, particularly in rural and underserved areas dependent on rain-fed agriculture.
Professor Mbuvha is expected to make use of advanced artificial intelligence (Al), including Graph Neural Networks and diffusion models, to deliver accurate, high-speed weather and climate predictions in regions where current systems are insufficient.
Because Africa only has less than one-eighth of the weather station density cover recommended by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), this scarcity limits access to accurate early-warning systems that are critical for climate adaptation.
The newly funded Wits-led initiative, is expected to expand observation networks, by deploying automatic weather stations in under-served areas, working closely with grassroots research communities and national weather services. It will also combine ground-based, satellite, and historical climate data to build robust, open-access forecasting models that can be used across the continent and beyond.
Mbuvha said “we are deeply grateful to the Bezos Earth Fund for selecting us as a grantee in this highly competitive AI Grand Challenge for Climate and Nature. Together with our partners, we’re thrilled to democratise skilful AI-driven weather forecasts that will generate multisectoral impact across the Global South. This grant award is a vote of confidence in our work and inspires us to accelerate inclusive, community-informed solutions for climate resilience.”
The Bezos Earth Fund launched the AI Grand Challenge with a total commitment of US$100 million (around R1.85 billion) to support bold, AI-powered ideas aimed at addressing climate change and biodiversity loss.
The Phase II of the implementation grant is around US$2 million, an estimated R37 million, to further develop and scale the project over the next two years.