The Director General of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Prof. Charles Anosike, has said inadequacy in meteorological observation networks is among the challenges facing climate early warning system in Nigeria.
The NiMet boss listed other challenges as difficulties in reaching smallholder farmers with relevant climate advisories, especially rural women and youths, limited technical capacity, and fragmented coordination.
Anosike spoke Tuesday in Abuja at the inaugural meeting of “Building Agricultural Systems Resilience in Nigeria Project”.
The NiMet boss said the project, which is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, aims to support Nigeria’s infrastructure for climate early action and warning systems.
Anosike said in a statement in Abuja that “The project will address the demand for relevant and timely climate information for decision-support analytics in the agriculture sector through increasing analytic capacity and capability of the system, improving capacity to support locally tailored climate analytics and information services, aligning national early action infrastructure for improved regional impact and enhancing early warning systems operational governance through inter-agency cooperation.”
Meanwhile, he said steering committee to address the issues has been raised and comprises technical directors from key ministries and agencies, technical partners, implementing partners, and representatives from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Stakeholders involved in the project are: NiMet, the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), the Federal Ministry of Environment, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
The project is being managed by Sahel Consulting Agriculture and Nutrition Limited.