Ignitia, a tropical weather forecasting company, with its partners Kosmos Innovation Center, the Environment Ministry and International Trade Centre - Netherlands Trust Fund 5 has introduced initiatives to innovate ways out of the climate crisis on the continent.

This forms part of a drive to their 'From Thunderstorm Predictions to Brainstorming Climate Smart Agriculture Solutions' for agribusiness actors, organisations and their households within the agriculture value chain.

They aim to help address the problem of low-accuracy weather forecasts in tropical regions with its atmospheric physics-based numerical predictions, the company delivers hyper-local forecasts that are twice as accurate as global models.

Their daily forecast is delivered via SMS, WhatsApp, smartphone apps, web and APIs sent across a range of different time scales, ranging from 48h rainfall forecasts to monthly and seasonal predictions.

Speaking at the 2023 Climate Tech Hackathon held at the Kosmos Innovation Center, Accra, Regional Director for Ignitia Africa, Kwabena Frimpong explained that this year’s hackathon received over 200 applications from young innovators and tech enthusiasts across Africa.

According to him, selected participants explored and presented innovative solutions to address climate change and market concerns, which will contribute to positive and sustainable development across the continent.

“It is an opportunity for developers, innovator communities, and young innovators across the continent to demonstrate the power of partnerships and to build innovative digital solutions ready for quick implementation and can give immediate results to build Africa's climate change resilience.

“This year’s hackathon featured seven emerging technologies for building climate resilience and adaptation, including crop management and smart water management for farmers, flood management system, creating a decentralised platform where investors, both local and global can participate in funding agricultural initiatives, early warning system for flood prevention, disaster risk reduction-solutions and mobile application designed to empower rural farmers by providing easy access to weather-based microinsurance.

“The participants were taken through project pitching training and mentorship sessions to further validate their ideas towards meeting the innovation challenge aimed at addressing relevant SDGs such as Zero Hunger and Climate Action.

“We hope that the significant technologies or solutions that emerged from this 2023 hackathon will be put to the service of our dear nation and the world at large.

“After our careful assessment and feedback from our jury members, Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology team Agriguard received the $2,000 grand prize for proposing a Flood Management System solution that collects comprehensive real-time data on weather and climate conditions, helping farmers make informed decisions about agricultural practices” he mentioned.

Deputy Director, Science, Technology and Innovation at the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Nashiru Salifu, in his speech, opined that initiatives like these place us on the right track to innovating our ways out of the climate crisis across the continent.

“It is worth mentioning that, whilst we innovate around climate change, we are also designing new economic activities and it is in the interest of all of us to become active participants in climate innovation and not just passive recipients of climate technology” he said.

Winners

The jury explained that the proposed solutions varied widely in both topics and development stages. They indicated that some teams built their ideas from scratch in just 48 hours, while others had been refining their concepts for some time.

According to the jury, Agriguard emerged winners with their initiative of providing access to weather-based insurance; and mitigating risks through advisory, Team Greenance emerged second with their blockchain-based crowd investment platform that funds interventions to mitigate weather-related disasters in real time and Farmlynco emerged third with their real-time advisory services, primarily on spraying and connecting farmers to agronomic consultancy services across Africa.

The jury believes that these solutions align very well with Ignitia’s focus on climate risk, weather-based insurance, advisory services, and extreme weather alerts.

“Let me say that Dreamweaver, Brocode, Farmlynco, Fidom Hub, Greenance, and Ignite Farmer respectively, obtained certificates for participating in the 2023 Hackathon” the jury mentioned.

In his closing remarks, the Executive Director of Kosmos Innovation Center, Benjamin Gyan – Kesse explained that African youth hold the key to realising the potential contributions of digital technologies to climate change adaptation in Africa.

“The innovative ideas presented here today provide ample evidence of this potential and it’s time to support the youth by incubating and upscaling their solutions to turn their potential into actual climate change adaptation actions” he urged.

In her remarks, Partnerships and Project Officer, Grow For Me Ltd, Annabel Sefakor Agbanu said the youth of today is the solution the world is waiting for to deal with the current crisis across the globe.

“I believe that the design of the hackathon is a true expression of tech and science diplomacy with solutions co-created by youths from different countries in the continent addressing local, regional challenges with global relevance towards climate change” she said.

National Project Coordinator in Ghana for the International Trade Centre - Netherlands Trust Fund 5, Isaac Newton Acquah, applauded Ignitia Ghana for its hands-on engagement in allowing young innovators to be more creative and explore solutions that leverage digital technologies for offering alternative solutions to climate resilience through cross-border understanding of climate change challenges.

Appreciation

Strategic Partnerships Manager of Ignitia, Theresa Fehle said that she was impressed by the diverse and inclusive thinking of the students.

“When we brought together students from across Africa, thanks to the efforts of our Africa Director, who agreed we work on challenges that affect every person on this planet; essentially, how do we help a population in the billions in ways that are sustainable for the planet, profitable for farmers and equitable to all?" she said.

The 2023 participants said they hope to formalise their ideas and move them forward.

Justice Viawordzi of the University of Ghana said one of his goals is to contribute actively to the well-being of the smallholder farmer.

Other participants used the opportunity to thank Ignitia Ghana and their partners for the 2023 Climate Tech Hackathon.