NiMet Data Hub Targets Smarter Farming, Climate Risk Management
Oru Leonard
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), is accelerating the development of a digital climate-information platform designed to help farmers, livestock producers and agricultural advisers make better-informed decisions based on reliable weather and climate data.
Known as the NiMet Data Hub, the platform is being developed in collaboration with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and Crea2Solutions.
The project has progressed from its initial design and mock-up stages to an advanced Minimum Viable Product (MVP), with NiMet’s weather and climate services currently undergoing testing.
Work on the initiative began in February 2026 under the Climate Services for Youth (CS4Y) and AGRA programmes. By July, the platform had reached a stage where its functionality could be tested, marking progress towards its intended deployment.
The Data Hub is designed to improve access to historical, monitored and forecast climate information while supporting seasonal planning, climate-risk analysis and climate-informed agricultural decisions.
The initiative seeks to address challenges affecting the delivery of climate services to Nigeria’s agricultural sector, including fragmented data, weak coordination among information providers and difficulties in translating technical weather forecasts into practical advice for farmers and other users.
As part of the development process, NiMet and ILRI have engaged stakeholders to map the country’s agro-meteorological data and advisory ecosystem, identify information gaps and strengthen institutional linkages.
The partners are also focusing on improving last-mile communication and ensuring that climate services take account of gender and social inclusion.
The platform is expected to support a wide range of users, including farmers, pastoralists, extension workers, researchers, government institutions and private agricultural advisory providers.
NiMet’s online map rooms and agricultural climate products are expected to provide important data for the platform, helping to generate location-specific agro-weather advisories.
The collaboration with ILRI also draws on the institute’s experience in organising research data, developing digital tools and improving the usability of information for researchers, partners and decision-makers.
The initiative is expected to contribute to Nigeria’s food-security and climate-smart agriculture objectives by putting actionable climate information closer to agricultural producers and advisers.
Through improved access to weather and climate information, the Data Hub is intended to enhance preparedness, reduce climate-related risks and strengthen the resilience of Nigeria’s agri-food sector.
