How NiMet increased farmers’ fortunes in Abuja, Yobe, Katsina, Kwara others

By Chukwuemeke Iwelunmo

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), issue of low level of irrigation farming, climate change seem to have been tackled.

With the increasing population, estimated to reach 400 million by 2050, enhanced agriculture productivity through adaptation of new technologies and innovations is necessary to ensure food security and nutrition.

Support from all stakeholders to the efforts by the federal and state governments is therefore, central for achieving this goal.

According to reports, the rst quarter of 2021, between January and March 2021, the agriculture contributed to 22.35 percent of the total Gross Domestic Product.

Over 70 percent of Nigerians engage in the agriculture sector mainly at a subsistence level. Despite the contribution to the economy, Nigeria’s agricultural sector faces many challenges which impact on its productivity. 

These include; poor land tenure system, low level of irrigation farming, climate change and land degradation. Others are low technology, high production cost and poor distribution of inputs, limited nancing, high post-harvest losses and poor access to markets. 

Before now, these challenges have stied agricultural productivity affecting the sector’s contribution to the country’s GDP as well as increased food imports due population rise hence declining levels of food sufficiency.

For instance, between 2016 and 2019 Nigeria’s cumulative agricultural imports stood at N3.35 trillion, four times higher than the agricultural export of N803 billion within the same period.

However, with the Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) which created availability of accurate and timely Meteorological data and information, NiMet) has boosted both crop and livestock yields in various states across the country, including Abuja, Yobe, Katsina, Kwara and others.

Director General of NiMet, Prof Mansur Bako Matazu gave the hint in his presentation at the World Food Day (WFD) held recently.

Speaking on the topic: “e 2021 Growing Season; Forcast, Reality and the Role of NiMet” said that the Seasonal Climate Prediction is critical to farmers and that is why the agency has taken very seriously.

According Prof Matazu him SCP entails onset and cessation dates of the cropping season, length of growing period, rainfall amount and socio-economic implications.

He stated that the agency also provides Decadal Agromet Bulletin published every 10 days, farmers guide, Crop Weather Calendar (CWC), Annual Climate Review, Quarterly Weather Review, Drought and Food Monitoring Bulletin, State Downscaled (SCP) and Daily Weather Forecast.

For farmers to gain optimally from the SCP,, Prof Matazu informed that the agency took it upon itself to train farmers and extension officers on the application of SCP for agricultural production.

Additionally, he added that crop weather calendar and livestock comfortability index are being provided.

Matazu revealed that between 2016 and 2019, 45 local government and 180 villages’ areas covered with over 5,000 farmers and extension officers were trained on the application of the SCP for agricultural production.

“Between 2017 to 2021, 104 local government and 727 village areas covered with over 60,000 farmers and extension officers were trained on the application of the SCP for agricultural production”, the DG said.

All these efforts by NiMet are targeted at increasing agricultural productivity in order to provide sufficient quantities of food to meet domestic demand as well as an abundance of commodity crops for export in the international market.

Besides, NiMet is also providing vital information aimed at promoting sustainable mana g ement o f na tur a l r e s our c e s ; rehabilitation of degraded lands and reducing erosion and climate vulnerability.

To achieve this, the agency recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development, (FMA&RD) , on the provision of Automatic Weather Stations, (AWS) , in ten states in Nigeria. Speaking during the signing ceremony, Pro f Ma t a z u s a id tha t in a l l the ir collaborations and partnerships, this MoU with the Mini s tr y of Agri culture i s paramount. Prof. Matazu noted that collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture has been going on in different fora at different platforms under some of the projects that reports directly to the Ministry of Agriculture & Rural development.

Describing the event as historical, Prof. Matazu said “One of our major users/ clients in the country are the peasant farmers, who constitute a very large portion of the occupation stratum of this country and which require weather and climate information as input in addition to other inputs that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture provides.

Prof. Matazu disclosed that from surveys conducted and interactions, like any average African Farmer, Nigerian Farmers are knowledgeable and Intelligent, they can guess weather and climate by fty-fty precision on their own, adding that what NiMet does is to increase the precision by putting scientic evidence and data information.

According to him, the precision is increased by more than 90 per cent, stressing that it has been established that just by adopting weather and climate information in agriculture, yield is increased by as high as 40 percent and risk is reduced by more than 90 per cent.

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In his welcome address, the Permanent Secretar y of the Federal Ministr y of Agriculture & Rural Development, FMA&RD, Dr. Ernest Afolabi Umakhike observed that the signing of the MoU is gratifying as it signals the full commencement of the collaboration and starts at the onset of the rains as forecasted by NiMet, adding that timely weather information will boost the productivity of farmers and reduce losses from adverse weather conditions in line with the Ministry’s policy as contained in the National Agricultural Technology Innovation Policy , NATIP.

He noted that over the years, NiMet Seasonal Climate Prediction, SCP, has helped to shape agriculture in Nigeria and will go a long way to increase the adaptive capacity of Nigerian farmers to changes in weather.

While thanking the NiMet DG for nding time to come for the signing, he said he look forward to the time Nigerian farmers nationwide can receive weather on mobile phones.