NiMet renews effort on food security

The Nigerian Meteorological agency says it will continue to partner the Food and Agriculture Organisation to ensure food security in Nigeria.

The Director-General of NiMet, Prof. Mansur Matazu, stated this, according to a statement on Sunday by the Managing Director, Corporate Communications Unit of the agency, Mr Muntari Ibrahim.

He said NiMet would continue to work closely with FAO and other partners, to promote the use of climate information in agricultural planning and decision-making for improved food production with security and improved livelihoods.

“For example, projected spikes in temperature, changes in rainfall patterns and increase in extreme weather events can lead to reduction in water availability.

“These may result in reduced agricultural productivity and trigger off subsequent threat to food security,” Matazu said.

The meteorological agency earlier predicted that seven northern states would experience severe dry spells in June.

It also said that by July and August, the dry spell would have improved and the affected states would have experienced above normal rainfall.

“NiMet is committed to continuous monitoring of developing weather patterns in order to update its partners about observed changes, especially in areas that churn out large output of food, as failure to do this would impact negatively on food security,” Matazu said.

According to him, incidences of pests and diseases, water needs and fertiliser requirements are mainly dictated by weather pattern.

He said, as a result, NiMet annually presents overall seasonal climate prediction of the country.

“This is with a view to help different sectors of the economy to consider the weather information in their plans to reduce multiplier negative impacts,” Matazu added.

The statement also quoted the Emergency and Resilience Programme Specialist of FAO, Mr Sworo Yopesi, as saying the agency had noticed evolution of dry spells that could inhibit agriculture yields in parts of the country.

The observation “necessitated the urgent meeting with NiMet in order to synergise and arrive at a collective solution that can lead to timely dissemination of weather alerts to the affected regions impacted by the dry spells.

“This is to mitigate the negative impact of weather on agriculture to improve food security in the country,” Yopesi said.

Ehime Alex
Ehime Alex
Ehime Alex reports the Capital Market, Energy, and ICT. He is a skilled webmaster and digital media enthusiast.

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