The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) are working to close the gap between climate forecasts and decisions made by farmers through a new digital data platform.
According to the agency on Monday, the initiative, which commenced in February 2026 under the Climate Services for Youth (CS4Y) and AGRA programmes, is designed to bring historical, observed and forecast climate information together and make it more accessible to farmers, pastoralists and agricultural advisers.
The NiMet Data Hub, developed with ILRI and Crea2Solutions, has reached an advanced Minimum Viable Product stage, with NiMet’s weather and climate services now being tested on the platform.
The project is particularly focused on addressing the challenge of turning technical meteorological information into practical advice that can be used at farm level.
Stakeholder engagements co-hosted by NiMet and ILRI have therefore focused on identifying gaps in Nigeria’s agro-meteorological information system, improving coordination among service providers and strengthening the delivery of climate information to end users.
The project partners said the objective was to ensure that climate information does not remain confined to technical institutions but reaches those who need it to plan agricultural activities.
The hub is expected to draw on NiMet’s online map rooms and agricultural climate products to develop context-specific agro-weather advisories for different users and locations.
ILRI’s role includes supporting the organisation of research data and development of digital tools to make climate and agricultural information easier for partners and decision-makers to use.
The platform will cater to farmers, pastoralists, extension professionals, researchers, government institutions and private agricultural advisory providers.
By improving access to timely and location-specific climate information, the initiative is expected to strengthen preparedness for weather-related risks, support climate-smart farming and help reduce losses across Nigeria’s agri-food sector.
