As we reflect on our journey so far, TomorrowNow delighted to share some of our favorite moments from 2023:.
Africa – We thank all our partners, friends and supporters for enabling us to achieve such a momentous year. With your support, in 2023 we empowered over 1 million smallholder farmers in Kenya with weather intelligence, in collaboration with partners across the public and private sectors, including the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), and Tomorrow.io.
This rapid scale is informed by our systems thinking and our commitment to strengthening the existing farmer-facing ecosystem. By pairing together private sector technology with local partnerships, we are on track to reach 6 million farmers by 2024, 20 million farmers in the next 3 years, and, ultimately, 100 million farmers across Africa by 2030.
Whilst we have a long way to go to reach our collective North Star, this is exactly the momentum we need and with your help, we can get there!
We call on our network to reconsider what works in an African context, and help farmers not just survive, but thrive in a changing climate. For us, that means focusing on proactive solutions and ensuring that weather is a key part of the climate conversation.
As we reflect on our journey so far, we are delighted to share some of our favorite moments from 2023:
Weather Intelligence Reached the Global Climate Adaptation Agenda
Bill Gates spoke on the COP28 stage and shared about the importance of weather intelligence access for smallholder farmers. TomorrowNow also featured in a documentary by The Economist alongside Bill Gates and our private sector partner, Tomorrow.io.
“The biggest and most cost-effective climate adaptation effort that we are going to make to help smallholder farmers adapt to climate change is to provide access to weather data” – Bill Gates, December 2023.
Accelerating Investments in Climate Adaptation
Our team continued to shape the narrative around the role that next-gen weather intelligence can play in our changing climate, and the importance of market creation, by investing in high-profile activities. Key engagements have included our exhibition at the Africa Climate Week, participating at the Mercy Corps 7th Annual Learning Event, convening a COP28 side event “Transforming Africa’s Food System Through Weather Intelligence & Partnership” in partnership with Kenya’s Homa Bay County government, and many more ecosystem-unlocking events.
Powerful Partnerships Unlock New Use Cases
Our new partnership with Salient Predictions will enable the adoption of their breakthrough seasonal forecast capabilities, and our partnership with Tomorrow.io deepened with the launch of their new satellites.
Further to this, we remain committed to partnerships that enable farmer-first impact at scale, including with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the County Government of Homa Bay, One Acre Fund, CGIAR, and Regen Organics.
Catalytic Funding for Cost-Effective Scale
We were excited to announce an additional $5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to expand our anchor program, Osiris, which represents a foundational strategic investment to enhance the value, adoption, and long-term viability of localized weather forecasts and historical climate datasets in Africa aimed at empowering the Small-Scale Producer (SSP) ecosystem.
Weather variability is impacting lives, now. Farmers are asking for better ways to adapt to climate change and we can no longer rely on food aid alone. Empowering millions of farmers with weather intelligence is our answer and we invite you to join us and learn more about how we can reach 100 million farmers in Africa together by 2030.
Thank you!
We could not have made it this far without the continued support of our team, friends and partners. Thank you for your commitment, knowledge-sharing, humility and audaciousness.
