NiMet, finance ministry collaborate on food transformation pathways

MANSUR MATAZU, DIRECTOR GEN ERAL, NIGERIAN METEOROLOGI CAL AGENCY (NiMet), says the agency is collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning on the implementation of the Food System Transformation Pathway in Nigeria under the umbrella of Food Systems Pathways.

In a paper, ‘Leveraging Technology for Effective Agriculture: The Story of a Weatherman’ at the 21st edition of the Joint Planning Board (JPB) and National Council on Development Planning (NCDP) meetings, which held at Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Matazu said NiMet is actively participating in the Implementation Committee on Weather aimed at delivering on Priority One (Regular Collection and Dissemination of Information on Weather) of the Food Systems Pathway.

He said through the collaboration, NiMet aims to develop weather and climate content for dissemination, by using the existing NiMet social media platforms (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook) for information sharing.

According to Matazu, the agency has embarked on the deployment of bulk SMS for weather and climate information and disseminate weather information through television, radio and print media with a robust mobile application that was simple to use, with option for indigenous language.

“In NiMet, we have moved from just generating forecasts to producing forecasts with implications. By this, we mean, Impact-Based Early Warnings.

“Our clients and stakeholders are not only foretold but also forewarned of likely impacts of the predicted weather and climate events,” he said.

Matazu explained that in agriculture, weather and climate