• About Project
• Initial Meetings
• Schedule
• Workshops
• Pre-Workshop Training
• Special Track: South Africa
• Workshop – Namibia
• Workshop – Kenya
• Partner Institutions
• Committee

Cultivating Innovation: HPC and AI Skills Development for Climate-Resilient African Agriculture (HA-CRAA)

Summary

The "HA-CRAA" project addresses the critical gap in advanced digital and computational skills hindering agricultural research and development in Africa. Focusing on Namibia as a compelling use case, this initiative will establish a foundational research cluster under the UNESCO Campus Africa framework. The project aims to equip early-career researchers and academics with practical skills in High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Through targeted training, hands-on exploration of open-source AI tools, and the development of a proof-of-concept model for crop yield prediction, this pilot will demonstrate the transformative potential of these technologies for enhancing food security and building climate resilience in African agriculture. This project will create a scalable model for skill development and foster a collaborative network poised for future expansion across the continent.

Objectives

The "Cultivating Innovation: HPC and AI Skills development for Climate-Resilient African Agriculture (HA-CRAA)" pilot project will empower African researchers and agricultural specialists with practical skills in High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to tackle pressing challenges in the agricultural sector. Specific objectives include:

1. 2.1 Develop a validated project blueprint and scalability plan for replicating the HPC and AI skills development model across other UNESCO Africa research clusters, ensuring alignment with continental agricultural priorities.
2. 2.2 Establish the foundational framework for an "Africa HPC-AI for Agriculture" research cluster via a collaborative research agreement (CRA) to foster ongoing collaboration, data sharing, and innovation in applying computational technologies to agricultural problems.
3. 2.3 Conduct desktop literature reviews to evaluate the current state of HPC/AI readiness and the specific agricultural challenges in Africa (e.g., drought prediction, crop yield optimisation), with the goal of identifying priority areas for academic capacity building.
4. 2.4 Develop the technical skills of 30 African academics and industry people through a workshop on leveraging HPC and AI to develop prototype solutions for climate-resilient agriculture.
5. 2.5 Develop a long-term sustainability and engagement framework for the established research cluster, empowering trained champions to seek further funding, including the 2026 Intra-Africa Mobility scheme, lead local initiatives, and contribute to a pan-African network of excellence in digital agriculture.