UAE, Bill Gates explore agriculture schemes under $200-million partnership signed at COP28

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Presidential Court’s Head of International Affairs Mariam Almheiri explored programmes initiated under a $200-million joint venture between the UAE and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Wednesday at Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi.

The partnership announced during COP28 last year includes four primary solutions to agricultural problems around the world. Fighting red palm weevil which costs $2bn annual losses in 49 countries, helping small-scale farmers combat destructive weather conditions and giving them access to correct farming techniques as well as accurate weather forecasts, topped the list of planned projects.

Proposed schemes also include AgriLLM which uses large language models to synthesise complex agricultural research into practical and accessible means even to small-scale farmers in developing countries.

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“Even without climate change, there are vast investments that can be made in agriculture,” said Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and longtime philanthropist, after examining the projects “when you think of low income or malnutrition… and put climate change on top of all that”

He hailed the continuous efforts made by the UAE in that regard: “it is a fantastic job the UAE did hosting COP last year, let’s see if anyone can live up to that.”

“Our goals should be very clear… I loved the farmers' advice (scheme) and helping countries figure out getting agricultural investments right. Climate change is a problem affecting farming all over the world, so thanks to everybody’s engagement, our foundation is committed to this partnership,” he concluded.

The proposed schemes tackle the intermittent challenges of food security and climate change, said Almheiri, stressing that the UAE is at the forefront of climate action.

“All these tools demonstrate our efforts towards practical solutions, giving small-scale farmers impactful tools to make correct decisions to improve farmers’ livelihoods.” .

UAE farmers will be the first to benefit from a consortium of innovations launched under the venture that aims to combat Red Palm Weevil which affects 35 million trees and 50 million farmers worldwide, causing $2bn dollars in crops losses and pest control every year.

Starting January next year, around 20 solutions including weevil sterilisation, dog sniffing and pheromone traps will start processing through stock taking, consolidation of innovations and practical discussions.

“There are many available solutions, and through the global consortium we will examine how to make them more effective and implementable by farmers around the globe,” said Aly Abousabaa, Director General of ICARDA (International Center for Agricultural Research).