Grace Ashiru
TomorrowNow is on the brink of a breakthrough in climate adaptation for 20 million farmers across Africa, bolstered by an additional $5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This new funding is set to enhance TomorrowNow’s leading program, Osiris, which aims to utilize the transformative power of advanced weather and climate data services specifically developed for the African continent.
Osiris represents a critical strategic effort focused on improving the effectiveness, uptake, and long-term viability of localized weather predictions and historical climate data. These tools are meticulously crafted to support and strengthen Africa’s Small-Scale Producer (SSP) network.
Following a $2 million grant from the Gates Foundation in 2021, TomorrowNow, working alongside its partners, has successfully aided one million African farmers in adapting to the impacts of climate change. This initiative has highlighted the vital need for enhanced access to localized weather information within the food system, focusing on the significance of this data’s quality and precision.
TomorrowNow is set on an ambitious journey to transform the lives of 20 million smallholder farmers over the next three years. This significant goal involves providing enhanced weather intelligence services throughout Africa to various stakeholders. These include research institutions, non-governmental organizations, multilateral organizations, private service providers, farmer cooperatives, and government agencies that support small-scale producers.
Philip Frost, the Climate Resilience Lead at TomorrowNow, is pleased with the support from donors like the Gates Foundation for weather and climate data services in Africa, highlighting their importance in addressing climate change and enhancing local prosperity.
This initiative will utilize advanced historical data, current observations, and short-term and seasonal forecasts from global tech companies such as Tomorrow.io, Salient Predictions, and Arable. By collaborating with local governments and partners from the private sector and NGOs, the project aims to transform agricultural practices in the area. It focuses on making cutting-edge weather and climate information widely accessible. The objective is to support organizations working directly with farmers and scientists who are developing innovations in the food sector. This includes enhancing crop modeling for developing climate-resilient seeds and promoting regenerative agriculture techniques.
Kauê de Sousa of Alliance Bioversity-CIAT (CGIAR) highlights the significant impact of the Osiris project, led by TomorrowNow. This initiative has been instrumental for CGIAR, providing them with direct access to an extensive, localized historical reanalysis dataset for East Africa. This access is proving to be a game-changer in enhancing seed breeding analytics at their trial sites.
TomorrowNow is at the forefront of providing weather intelligence to organizations directly working with farmers and key research bodies like CGIAR. Supported by transformative philanthropy, TomorrowNow aims to see local farming communities in Africa play a pivotal role in developing future food systems. These systems are expected to be sustainable, improve crop yields, and offer a more stable future for everyone. TomorrowNow.org, a climate-tech nonprofit, is passionately committed to bridging the gap that hinders the delivery of advanced weather technology, driven by AI and satellites, to communities most affected by climate change.
