The Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL Plc) and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) have announced their partnership on many projects aimed at increasing Nigeria’s agricultural output.
This came after a meeting between the managing director and chief executive officer of NIRSAL, Abbas Umar Masanawa, OON, and the director general and chief executive officer of NiMet, Professor Charles Anosike, on Wednesday at the headquarters of NIRSAL Plc in Abuja.
Speaking at the meeting, Prof. Anosike said: “The urgency of climate action requires that critical stakeholders collaborate, invest in preparedness and ensure that smallholder farmers are protected by early warnings of climate disaster. NiMet is keen on exploring opportunities for both NiMet and NIRSAL to partner in de-risking agriculture. With the work that NiMet does and the data it generates on a daily basis, this will help farmers to plan effectively and efficiently”.
Masanawa greeted the NiMet team and mentioned that the company had performed successfully over the years in a variety of economic sectors, including agriculture in addition to the aviation industry.
“Anosike and his team have been doing very well not only in aviation but in agriculture as well. NIRSAL is interested in collaborating with them to support small holder farmers for increased productivity. This is in line with NIRSAL’s mandate”, he said.
Masanawa stated that since the goal would be to boost primary production, working with NiMet would be essential. Given that farmers are the most vulnerable, this will benefit everyone. For a wider audience and comprehension, we are particularly pleased that NiMeT downscales its weather and climate data and information in several regional Nigerian languages, Masanawa continued.