The Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has begun providing climate and weather data to about 70 million subsistence farmers to help improve agricultural productivity through data-driven farming. NiMet’s Director-General, Prof. Charles Anosike, announced this on Thursday during a partnership meeting with the U.S.-based Global Green Development Group and NOAH ReGen.
The meeting, held at NiMet’s headquarters in Abuja, focused on a collaboration for the Jatropha-To-Biofuel programme, an initiative aimed at converting the Jatropha plant into biofuel. Anosike emphasized that the partnership aligns with NiMet’s mandate to monitor atmospheric conditions, analyze climate data, and generate forecasts that contribute to socio-economic development.
“NiMet has a wide ecosystem of climate change actors and partners. We work with over 70 million subsistence farmers in Nigeria, providing them with seasonal climate predictions and other critical weather information,” Anosike stated. He added that the agency’s data would be instrumental in supporting the biofuel initiative and enhancing responses to climate-related disasters.
Mary Flowers, CEO of Global Green Development Group, highlighted NiMet’s vital role in ensuring the success of the Jatropha-To-Biofuel project. “Data will drive everything we do. We need NiMet’s science and climate records, which have existed for over a century. With your data, we can bring our project to the market much faster,” she said.
Frederic Degret, CEO of NOAH ReGen, explained that the Jatropha-To-Biofuel programme aligns with the Re’Planet Ecosystem, an initiative launched by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation. He described the ecosystem as a game-changing financial platform that enables nations to structure debt-for-nature swaps and unlock the value of nature-based assets, including carbon credits.
With this partnership, NiMet’s climate data is expected to play a crucial role in promoting sustainable agriculture, improving biofuel production, and strengthening Nigeria’s climate resilience efforts.
