NiMet Supports AGROW Digital Agriculture Strategy to Boost Food Security
Oru Leonard
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening weather and climate information services for farmers as part of efforts to promote a productive, resilient and food-secure agricultural sector.
The Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of NiMet, Prof. Charles Anosike, stated this in his goodwill message 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.
Held under the theme, “Building a Unified, Inclusive and Future-Ready Digital Agriculture Ecosystem for a More Productive, Resilient and Food-Secure Nigeria,” the event brought together stakeholders to deliberate on strengthening Nigeria’s digital agriculture ecosystem.
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 promotes informed decision-making across climate-sensitive sectors.
He noted that increasing climate variability, changing rainfall patterns and extreme weather events were having significant implications for agriculture, making timely and reliable climate information essential for effective agricultural planning.
According to him, NiMet provides Seasonal Climate Predictions, regular weather updates, agrometeorological services and impact-based advisories to assist farmers in making informed decisions on planting, water and input management, while reducing avoidable agricultural losses.
The NiMet DG/CEO further identified digital agriculture as a key pathway for translating climate information into practical action at farm level.
He highlighted NiMet’s collaboration with Tomorrow.io and MTN on the Digital Climate Advisory Services (DCAS) system, designed to provide location-specific weather advisories to farmers through mobile SMS.
He also cited the agency’s partnership with the Agricultural Innovation Mechanism for Scale (AIM for Scale) to strengthen the integration of artificial intelligence-based weather forecasting with digital agricultural advisory systems.
Anosike stressed that digital agricultural services must be delivered through accessible and trusted channels, adding that effective last-mile delivery would require stronger collaboration among extension services, technology providers, telecommunications companies, community radio stations and farmer organisations.
He also called for digital agricultural services to reflect the realities of farmers, including language, literacy, connectivity, affordability and gender inclusion.
The NiMet boss emphasised the need to involve farmers in the development of climate services to ensure that the solutions provided are relevant and responsive to their needs.
He commended the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, CON, for his efforts in promoting climate-smart agriculture.
Anosike challenged participants at the dialogue to develop a practical, inclusive and measurable roadmap for integrating weather and climate services into decision-making across Nigeria’s agricultural value chain.
He expressed optimism that the dialogue would contribute to the development of a climate-smart, digitally enabled and farmer-centred agricultural system,
while reaffirming NiMet’s readiness to provide the technical leadership required to strengthen climate services, support food security and build resilient livelihoods across Nigeria.
