The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) Plc have formed strategic partnerships on several projects to boost agricultural efficiency in Nigeria.
A statement by Prof. Charles Anosike, the Director-General, Nimet said that the collaborative meeting was held at the NIRSAL Plc headquarters in Abuja with Abbas Masanawa, the Managing Director of NIRSAL in attendance.
Anosike explained that the urgency of climate action required that critical stakeholders collaborate, invest in preparedness and ensure that smallholder farmers were protected by early warnings of climate disasters.
He insisted that NiMet was keen on exploring opportunities for the weather forecast agency and NIRSAL to partner in de-risking agriculture.
He added: “With the work that NiMet does and the data it generates daily, 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 speech, Masanawa said that NiMet had done well over the years not only in the aviation sector but also in the other economic sectors, including agriculture.
He reiterated the readiness of NIRSAL to collaborate with NiMet to support smallholder farmers for increased productivity, maintaining that this was in line with the company’s mandate.
He declared that collaborating with NiMet was critical as the focus would be on increasing primary production.
He said: “This will be beneficial to all as the farmers are the most vulnerable ones. We are also happy that NiMeT scales its weather and climate data and information in different local Nigerian languages for wider reach and understanding.”
Source: https://independent.ng/nimet-nirsal-set-to-collaborate-boost-agricultural-productivity-in-nigeria/