IEEE Uganda Section: Tackling Climate Change and Food Security Through AI and IoT

The global computer engineering community is driving change for the better, and when that knowledge can be leveraged to sustain and strengthen humanity, it fortifies our world. For instance, this past October, the IEEE Uganda Section embarked on an endeavor to find solutions to tackle a growing problem across the globe: food insecurity.

When it comes to food insecurity, the numbers tell the story. In 2024, approximately 2.3 billion people – or 28% of the world’s population – faced moderate or severe food insecurity, a 17% increase since 2019, and 673 million people faced hunger.

Reports indicate that climate change is playing a major role in these increases. Over the past 30 years, disasters (droughts, floods, storms) have caused USD $3.8 trillion worth of loss in crops and livestock production—averaging about USD $123 billion per year, or 5% of global agricultural gross domestic product (GDP). And for many developing countries, losses amount to 10-15 % of their agricultural GDP. It is estimated that climate change has reduced global agricultural productivity growth by roughly 21% since 1961, and in warmer regions, up to roughly 33%.

The NIS Summit

To that end, the IEEE Uganda Section convened the 2025 IEEE Uganda National Innovation Summit (NIS). Held 2 - 3 October 2025, at Hive Colab, Kampala, Uganda, the Summit served as a dynamic platform to showcase innovation, share knowledge, and demonstrate how Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and other emerging technologies can address pressing societal challenges, including food insecurity and climate change. The Summit featured a series of keynote addresses and panel discussions led by distinguished speakers from academia and industry on topics including:

• AI and IoT to address local, regional, and global challenges, with an emphasis on integrating innovation from concept development to deployment;
• Ethical, policy, and ecosystem factors that support the responsible and impactful use of emerging technologies;
• And more.

But one of the most noteworthy features of the Summit was the National Innovation Hackathon, which was held under the theme of “Leveraging Emerging Technologies for Humanity Focusing on Climate Resilience and Agriculture & Food Security.” Through collaboration with the IEEE Computer Society (CS), young professionals, innovators, and entrepreneurs from diverse disciplines and institutions worked in multidisciplinary teams to harness the power of AI and IoT to design practical, scalable solutions addressing real-world challenges in climate resilience and agriculture and food security. The Hackathon provided a dynamic, hands-on learning platform that combined technical creativity, teamwork, mentorship, and innovation-driven problem-solving.

“The passion, creativity, and dedication of IEEE volunteers, student members, and young professionals were prominently demonstrated [through the Hackathon],” said Henry Lutwama, NIS Organizing Chair. “Their ability to apply emerging technologies toward solving local societal challenges reinforced IEEE’s mission of advancing technology for humanity. [Overall], the Summit acted as a catalyst for enhanced collaboration among academia, industry, innovators, and development partners, paving the way for sustained initiatives that leverage emerging technologies for societal resilience, inclusive growth, and humanitarian impact.”

NIS and the Future

These efforts sparked new ideas on ways AI and IoT can address climate resilience and agriculture and food security, giving way to potential solutions. And the IEEE Uganda Section plans to build on this foundation: Moving forward, the IEEE Uganda Section hopes to expand the program to a regional level to foster stronger cross-border collaboration, innovation exchange, and societal impact through technology. Additionally, the organization seeks to integrate targeted capacity-building sessions and training programs. Lastly, the IEEE Uganda Section will work on growing participation in event-aligned societies such as the IEEE CS, IEEE Technology and Engineering Management Society (TEMS), and others.

“The IEEE Uganda Section remains committed to strengthening collaborations with academia, industry, and development partners to sustain innovation, mentorship, and volunteer engagement,” said Lutwama. “We look forward to build[ing] upon the success of the past summits, further scaling the impact, broadening participation, and reinforcing IEEE’s mission of advancing technology for humanity.”

To learn more about the NIS, visit https://innovsummit.org/. To learn more about IEEE CS humanitarian impact efforts, visit https://www.computer.org/about/humanitarian-impact.