News in Brief:
– NiMet and ACReSAL are partnering to develop a digital platform to provide smallholder farmers in northern Nigeria with weather-related data and tailored agricultural advice.
– This initiative aims to modernise farming practices, build climate resilience, and improve farmers’ access to crucial information.
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) is collaborating with the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) Project to develop a cutting-edge digital platform for climate-smart farming.
NiMet will collaborate with the World Bank-financed climate project for tackling land degradation and climate change issues in Northern Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to deploy the Digital Precision Agricultural Extension (DPAE) platform.
The platform aims to revolutionise farming practices for smallholder farmers in Nigeria’s northern regions by providing farmers with crucial weather-related data and tailored advice directly to their fingertips.
At a meeting held at NiMet’s headquarters in Abuja recently, Mukhtar Tanko, the National Project Coordinator for ACReSAL, underscored the vital role NiMet will play in the development, deployment, and long-term success of the digital platform.
Tanko explained that a key component of the ACReSAL project focuses on empowering individual household-level farmers to adopt climate-smart rainfed agricultural techniques.
Digital platform to offer tailored information
The ACReSAL National Project Coordinator reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to creating a customised platform specifically for the smallholder farmers who form the backbone of agriculture in northern Nigeria.
Furthermore, he detailed that the digital extension service will offer farmers real-time and predictive insights, including customised agricultural guidance, recommendations on essential farming inputs, up-to-date market information, and critical weather forecasts tailored to their specific needs and locations.
Historically, prolonged droughts in northern Nigeria have caused crop failures, livestock deaths, and resource conflicts.
Therefore, analysts agree that weather-based smart farming apps could help by providing early warnings, tailored advice on drought-resistant crops and water management, and strategies for livestock care, thus mitigating the devastating impacts of these dry spells.
NiMet’s commitment to supporting farmers
Meanwhile, Charles Anosike, the Chief Executive Officer of NiMet, expressed his support for the enhanced collaboration with ACReSAL.
He stressed the fundamental link between weather and climate intelligence and the successful implementation of modern, precision-based agriculture.
He further asserted that the existing relationship with the project has already yielded positive results, and his team welcomes the opportunity to strengthen our partnership further.
The overarching goal of the Digital Precision Agricultural Extension (DPAE) platform is to develop, pilot, and ultimately implement a sophisticated digital extension system across Northern Nigeria, thereby boosting climate-smart farming practice in the country.
Consequently, this represents a move to improve farmers’ access to vital extension and advisory services, ultimately paving the way for more informed decision-making and greater resilience within the agricultural sector in the region.
