Jameel Observatory early warning system selected by US and UAE governments for accelerated deployment at climate change summit in Washington, DC
8 May 2023
Washington, DC, USA
The Jameel Observatory Climate Resilience Early Warning System Network (Jameel Observatory-CREWSnet), a new project launched by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Community Jameel, has been selected as an innovation sprint at the 2023 summit of the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM4C). AIM4C is a joint initiative of the United States and United Arab Emirates that seeks to enhance climate action by accelerating agriculture and food systems innovation and investment. Innovation sprints are selected by AIM4C to accelerate their impact following a competitive process that considers scientific excellence and financial support.
The Jameel Observatory-CREWSnet, one of MIT’s five Climate Grand Challenges flagship projects, aims to empower communities worldwide, specifically within the agriculture sector, to adapt to climate shocks by combining state-of-the-art climate and socioeconomic forecasting techniques with technological solutions to support communities’ resilience and by launching collaborations across the public and private sectors, as well as civil society.
The Jameel Observatory-CREWSnet will initially pilot in Bangladesh and Sudan, working with local partners BRAC, a leading international nonprofit headquartered in Bangladesh, and the Agricultural Research Corporation-Sudan, the principal agricultural research arm of the Sudanese government, and with MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), the global research centre working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence.
Beginning in southwestern Bangladesh, the Jameel Observatory-CREWSnet will integrate next-generation climate forecasting, predictive analytics, new technologies, and financial instruments. In Sudan, the initiative will emphasise adopting modern technology to use a better variety of heat-resistant seeds, increasing the use of targeted fertilisers, strengthening soils through soil fertility mapping combined with data modelling and emphasising vertical expansion of agriculture over traditional horizontal expansion. The Jameel Observatory-CREWSnet's activities and timeline will be re-evaluated as the team monitors the ongoing situation in Sudan.
Using local climate insights, communities will be empowered to adapt proactively to climate change by optimally planning their agricultural activities, targeting emergent economic opportunities and proactively managing risks from climate change. The Jameel Observatory-CREWSnet seeks to bridge the gap between the knowledge about climate change created at research institutions such as MIT and the local farming communities that are adapting to the impacts of climate change. By effectively informing and engaging local communities, the project seeks to enable farmers to sustainably increase their agricultural productivity and income.
Elfatih Eltahir, HM King Bhumibol Professor of Hydrology and Climate at MIT and project leader of the Jameel Observatory-CREWSnet, said: “As we launch the Jameel-Observatory-CREWSnet, the AIM4C summit offers a great opportunity to share our plans and initial work with all those who are interested in enhancing the capacity of agricultural communities in vulnerable countries to deal with challenges of climate change.”
George Richards, director of Community Jameel, said: “Community Jameel is proud to be collaborating with MIT, BRAC, and the Agricultural Research Corporation-Sudan to empower agricultural communities to adapt to the ever-growing challenges arising from climate change – challenges which, as we are seeing acutely in Sudan, are compounded by other crises. We welcome the support of the US and UAE governments in selecting the Jameel Observatory-CREWSnet as an AIM4C innovation sprint.”
Dr Md Liakath Ali, director of climate change, urban development, and disaster risk management at BRAC, said: “Over our five decades working alongside climate-vulnerable communities in Bangladesh, BRAC has seen firsthand how locally-led climate adaptation helps protect lives and livelihoods. BRAC is proud to work with Community Jameel and MIT to empower vulnerable communities to proactively adapt to the impacts of climate change.”
The Jameel Observatory-CREWSnet was launched at COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh as part of the Jameel Observatory, an international collaboration launched in 2021 that focuses on convening researchers and practitioners who use data and technology to help communities adapt to the impacts of climate change and short-term climate shocks.
With a special focus on low and middle-income countries, the Jameel Observatory works at the interface of climate, natural disasters, agricultural and food systems, and health. It emphasises the need to incorporate local as well as scientific knowledge to prepare and act in anticipation of environmental shocks.