By Onche Odeh
Nigeria’s foremost weather agency, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has entered a partnership with the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) to promote timeline information sharing, which they say said would boost climate-resilient farming and related activities in Nigeria and beyond.
This partnership, which was officially endorsed on Monday with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at NiMET’s Headquarters in Abuja, would allow for the sharing of data, while also offering support base for each other within the purvey of the respective mandates of the two institutions.
AATF, a non-profit organisation, works to eliminate barriers preventing smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa from accessing transformative agricultural technologies that raise productivity, strengthen food security, and reduce poverty, whereas, NiMet, established under the NiMet Act of 2003, is mandated to collect, process, and disseminate meteorological data to support sustainable socio-economic development nationwide.
At the signing ceremony in Abuja, AATF’s Regional Representative for West Africa, Dr. Jean Baptiste Tignegre, said the partnership reflects both organisations’ shared commitment to helping farmers adapt to changing climatic conditions through data-driven, technology-enabled interventions.
“This MoU sets the stage for joint planning and execution of projects that combine NiMet’s climate expertise with AATF’s agricultural innovation capabilities,” Dr. Tignegre said. “Farmers will gain timely, actionable climate information to plant at the right time, protect their crops, and thrive despite climate uncertainties. When agricultural innovation meets climate intelligence, we turn risk into resilience — and resilience into growth.”
Dr. Charles Anosike, Director General of NiMet, described the agreement as a step toward improving farmers’ access to quality climate data, thereby supporting Nigeria’s push for food self-sufficiency.
“We must work together, exchange ideas, and integrate technology into climate science for the good of society. This partnership will yield long-term benefits for Nigeria,” Dr. Anosike said.
As part of the collaboration, AATF has already installed 17 weather stations in six states, working alongside state governments and international partners to expand farmers’ access to real-time climate data.
Speaking on the relevance of the partnership to Nigerian farmers, Yarama Ndirpaya, AATF TELA Maize Project lead, said, “The Climate is changing. There is a need to develop crop varieties that can be resilient to the changing climate. This can only happen with adequate knowledge of how this is happening in the form of data,” adding that this forms the basis of the partnership between AATF and NiMET.
