Predicting Malaria Transmission in Ghana’s Upper West Region: A Machine Learning Tournament with Explainable AI

Aug 7

1 min read

Updated: Sep 7

Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos, Nigeria, 2-7 August 2026

https://deeplearningindaba.com/2026/

Jacob Agyekum & Vukosi Marivate

Abstract: Malaria remains a primary public health challenge in the Upper West Region of Ghana, requiring high-resolution forecasting to optimise resource allocation [1,2]. This study introduces a competitive “model tournament” framework for predicting malaria cases in outpatient departments (OPDs) across 11 districts.

Rather than forcing a single, region-wide model onto structurally heterogeneous environments, the tournament independently optimises architectures for each district. This approach shifts the forecasting paradigm from global trend replication to district-specific tracking of outbreak acceleration to facilitate

precision prevention.

Poster:

FUTURE AFRICA

RESEARCH LEADERSHIP FELLOWSHIP

The Future Africa Research Leadership Fellowship (FAR-LeaF) is an early career research fellowship program focused on developing transdisciplinary research and leadership skills.

The programme seeks to build a network of emerging African scientists who have the skills to apply transdisciplinary approaches and to collaborate to address complex challenges in the human well-being and environment nexus in Africa.