The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has said it would be partnering with the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) on several projects to advance agricultural productivity in the country.
The Director General NiMet, Professor Charles Anosike, disclosed this on Wednesday when he visited the Managing Director NIRSAL, Abbas Masanawa, at the agricultural lender’s office in Abuja.
The Professor said the urgency of climate action requires that critical stakeholders collaborate, invest in preparedness, and ensure that smallholder farmers are protected by early warnings of climate disasters.
He said ,” NiMet is keen on exploring opportunities for both NiMet and NIRSAL to partner in de-risking agriculture. With the work that NiMet does and the data it generates on a daily basis, this will help farmers to plan effectively and efficiently.
“Climate change impacts greatly on farming activities and agricultural yield, hence the need for data-driven farming operations. This will help to de-risk the agricultural value chain”.
In his welcome address, Masanawa said that NiMet has done well over the years not only in the aviation sector but also in the other economic sectors including agriculture.
“The DG/CEO of NiMet, Professor Charles Anosike, and his team have been doing very well not only in aviation but in agriculture as well. NIRSAL is interested in collaborating with them to support smallholder farmers for increased productivity. This is in line with NIRSAL’s mandate”.
NIRSAL MD said collaborating with NiMet is critical as the focus will be on increasing primary production.
“This will be beneficial to all as the farmers are the ones that are most vulnerable. We are also happy that NiMeT downscales its weather and climate data and information in different local Nigerian languages for wider reach and understanding”.
“A technical committee will be set up for the benefit of Nigerians and smallholder farmers, drawn from experts from NiMet and NIRSAL to operationalize quickly the various areas of interest including but not limited to training, data sharing, setting up weather stations, etc”, Masanawa concluded.
