NiMet Backs Digital Agriculture Strategy to Boost Food Security, Climate Resilience
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening weather and climate information services for farmers as part of efforts to improve agricultural productivity, build resilience and enhance food security in Nigeria.
The Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of NiMet, Prof. Charles Anosike, made the commitment in a goodwill message delivered at the National Strategic Dialogue on the preparation of the AGROW Component 2.2 – National Implementation Strategy and Digital Agriculture Architecture.
The dialogue was organised by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security under the World Bank-supported Nigeria Sustainable Agricultural Value Chain (AGROW) Project.
The meeting, held under the theme, “Building a Unified, Inclusive and Future-Ready Digital Agriculture Ecosystem for a More Productive, Resilient and Food-Secure Nigeria”, brought together stakeholders to deliberate on the development of a coordinated digital agriculture ecosystem capable of supporting farmers and other players across the agricultural value chain.
Anosike said the initiative was particularly important to NiMet because of the agency’s mandate to provide weather and climate information that protects lives, supports livelihoods and enables informed planning in climate-sensitive sectors, including agriculture.
He noted that increasing climate variability, changing rainfall patterns and extreme weather events were posing growing challenges to agricultural production, making access to timely and reliable weather and climate information increasingly important for farmers and agricultural planners.
According to him, NiMet provides a range of climate and weather services designed to help farmers make informed decisions and minimise the impact of weather-related risks on agricultural activities.
These services include Seasonal Climate Predictions, regular weather updates, agrometeorological services and impact-based advisories, which provide information to guide decisions on planting periods, water management and the application of agricultural inputs.
The NiMet chief executive stressed that the availability of climate information alone would not be sufficient to transform agricultural outcomes unless such information could be translated into practical advice and delivered directly to farmers in accessible forms.
He identified digital agriculture as a major pathway for converting climate and weather information into practical, farm-level decisions.
Anosike highlighted NiMet’s partnerships with Tomorrow.io and MTN on the Digital Climate Advisory Services (DCAS) System, which is designed to provide location-specific weather advisories to farmers through mobile SMS.
He also pointed to the agency’s partnership with the Agricultural Innovation Mechanism for Scale (AIM for Scale), which seeks to strengthen the integration of artificial intelligence-based weather forecasting with digital advisory systems.
According to him, such initiatives have the potential to improve the way farmers receive and use weather information, particularly in an environment where changing climate conditions are increasing the risks associated with agricultural production.
Anosike, however, stressed that the success of digital agriculture would depend largely on how effectively services reached farmers at the last mile.
He called for stronger collaboration among government agencies, agricultural extension services, technology providers, telecommunications companies, community radio stations and farmer organisations to ensure that digital agricultural information reached farmers through channels they could access and trust.
The NiMet DG also emphasised the need for digital agricultural services to reflect the realities of farmers, including differences in language, literacy levels, internet and mobile connectivity, affordability and gender.
He said farmers should also be actively involved in the design and development of climate services to ensure that the information and advisories provided addressed their practical needs.
The emphasis on farmer-centred digital services, he noted, would help bridge the gap between the production of technical climate information and its actual use in agricultural decision-making.
Anosike commended the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, for his efforts towards promoting climate-smart agriculture and urged participants at the strategic dialogue to focus on developing a practical, inclusive and measurable roadmap.
He said the roadmap should facilitate the integration of weather and climate services into decision-making across the agricultural value chain, covering areas where farmers and other stakeholders could benefit from better access to climate information.
The NiMet boss expressed optimism that the dialogue would contribute to the development of a digitally enabled and farmer-centred agricultural system capable of improving productivity while strengthening Nigeria’s resilience to climate-related risks.
He reaffirmed NiMet’s readiness to provide the technical expertise and leadership required to strengthen climate services and support the integration of meteorological information into Nigeria’s agricultural development strategy.
