The Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Professor Charles Anosike, has officially inaugurated the steering committee for the ‘Building Agricultural Systems Resilience In Nigeria Project’. The ceremony took place at NiMet’s headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.
Addressing the gathering in his capacity as the chairman of the steering committee, Anosike, highlighted the challenges confronting the climate early warning system in Nigeria.
He emphasized issues such as insufficient meteorological observation networks, limited technical capacity, fragmented coordination, and the difficulty in disseminating climate advisories to smallholder farmers, particularly among rural women and youth.
In his statement, Prof. Anosike outlined the objectives of the project, generously funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
He emphasized its focus on enhancing infrastructure for climate early action and warning systems, as well as addressing the demand for relevant and timely climate information in the agriculture sector.
He further elaborated on the project’s goals, which include increasing analytic capacity, improving support for locally tailored climate analytics and information services, aligning national early action infrastructure for improved regional impact, and enhancing operational governance of early warning systems through inter-agency cooperation.
The steering committee, composed of technical directors from key ministries and agencies, technical partners, implementing partners, and representatives from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will oversee the implementation of the project.
Their responsibilities include providing strategic guidance, monitoring progress, advocating for program coordination, and ensuring effective risk management.
Key stakeholders involved in the ‘Building Agricultural Systems Resilience In Nigeria Project’ include NiMet, Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), Federal Ministry of Environment, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), and Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. Sahel Consulting Agriculture and Nutrition Ltd is tasked with managing the project.
Anosike stated, “To address these gaps, the ‘Building Agricultural Systems Resilience in Nigeria Project’, generously funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation aims to bolster our infrastructure for climate early action and warning systems.”
