NiMet Advocates Use of Climate Information to Achieve Food Security

Kasim Sumaina in Abuja

The Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has advocated better use of climate information in agriculture if Nigeria is to rebuild the sector and make it sustainable to achieve food security in the country.

The Director General/Chief Executive Officer of NiMet, Prof. Abubakar Mashi, made this recommendation, while presenting a paper titled: “Agrometeorological Service Delivery for Sustainable Agricultural Development in Nigeria” to participants of the Senior Executive Course (SEC) No. 39, 2017 Programme at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in Plateau State.

Prof. Mashi noted that “effective climate information and services will not only transform agricultural production from labour – intensive high risk endeavor to knowledge-based strategic enterprise, but will also enable sustainable utilisation of resources to achieve food security in the country.”

According to him, “Climate and weather variability play an overriding role in determining the amount of the physical productivity of agricultural crops, livestock and forests as well as the risk of the failure of the productivity.”

Details later…