A drone./PHOTO;Courtesy
A new £2.5 million drone- and AI-powered initiative is set to strengthen efforts to eliminate malaria in Africa by targeting mosquito breeding sites that often go undetected by conventional control methods.
Led by Aberystwyth University and supported by funding from the Gates Foundation, the three-year research project will be implemented in Zanzibar, working closely with African public health authorities, researchers, and communities to tackle one of the continent’s most persistent public health threats.
Malaria continues to cause hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths across Africa each year, despite decades of control efforts.
One of the enduring challenges has been identifying and managing the aquatic habitats where mosquitoes breed, many of which are hidden beneath dense vegetation, algae, or flooded farmland.
The new initiative focuses on larval source management, aiming to eliminate mosquitoes before they mature and transmit disease.
It will combine drones, satellite imagery, and artificial intelligence to locate breeding sites more accurately and across wider areas than traditional ground surveys allow.
Drones equipped with advanced sensors, including near-infrared and thermal imaging capabilities, will be used to detect water bodies obscured by vegetation, while satellite imagery will aid in mapping larger aquatic environments.
Artificial intelligence will then analyse the imagery to distinguish mosquito habitats from other water sources, even in complex landscapes such as rice paddies and swamps.
Dr Andy Hardy, the project’s lead researcher from Aberystwyth University’s Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, said the approach represents a shift in how mosquito control is carried out in Africa.
“This project is reinventing mosquito control in a bid to tackle one of sub-Saharan Africa’s most urgent public health challenges,” said Dr Hardy.
“Our focus on the ecology of mosquito habitats and collaboration with local communities will help build a scalable, sustainable model that could serve as a blueprint for malaria control across the globe. By using drones, satellite imagery, and AI, we can rapidly and precisely map breeding grounds, making interventions more targeted and effective.”
Beyond technological innovation, the project places strong emphasis on community engagement and local capacity building.
Local teams will be trained to identify and eliminate mosquito larvae, while outreach efforts will help address concerns around the use of drones and digital tools.
A digital toolkit will be developed to support malaria control operations, including a central dashboard for planning and oversight and a smartphone app to guide field staff in mapping, spraying, and monitoring breeding sites.
The system will also recommend the most effective mapping strategies based on terrain and available resources.
Importantly, all key software produced through the initiative will be open source, allowing malaria-endemic countries across Africa to adapt and use the tools without prohibitive costs.
Dr Shija Joseph Shija of the Zanzibar Malaria Elimination Program, a key partner in the project, said the initiative comes at a critical time for Zanzibar and the wider region.
“Zanzibar has made tremendous progress in the fight against malaria, yet we continue to face the persistent challenge of mosquito breeding sites that are often difficult to detect and control,” he said.
“This new £2.5 million initiative, led by Aberystwyth University and supported by the Gates Foundation, represents a powerful step forward in our efforts to eliminate malaria from our islands.”
He added that the open-source nature of the tools could benefit other African regions facing similar challenges.
“Zanzibar will be among the first regions globally to benefit from a fully transferable, data-driven model that can support real-time planning, monitoring, and decision-making in larval source management.”
Other partners include the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania, and Zzapp Malaria, reflecting a growing emphasis on collaborative, technology-enabled solutions to Africa’s malaria burden.
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