The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have signed a memorandum of understanding on improving food security in the country through precise weather forecasts.
NiMet’s director-general, Mansur Matazu, who disclosed this on Monday in Abuja when a delegation from the CBN visited NiMet, said the outcome of the partnership would improve the standards of living of Nigerians.
According to him, technical collaboration has been established with the development of a work plan that will provide a platform for CBN intervention.
“Basically, in the next two months, we are going to see this project being run-on between CBN and NiMet by supporting target areas,” stated Mr Matazu.
He said making farming activities to be smart would result in enhanced yields and an improvement in the livelihood of farmers. According to him, the project will support irrigation, among other things.
Chika Nwanja, head of CBN’s retail agriculture credit division, who led the bank’s delegation to the meeting, said the apex bank was determined to boost food security.
Mr Nwanja said with the partnership, Nigerian farmers would no more face adverse conditions that would be inimical to their yields.
“It is not about (the) efforts and labour you put into agriculture. It is about what you achieve at the end of the season. Meeting with NiMet and discussing with NiMet has given us hope that Nigeria has that capability in terms of precise prediction of weather forecasts across the different geographical zones in the country,” added Mr Nwanja.
He mentioned that NiMet “has shown us (the) capacity and some level of capability, and we will be willing to partner with it to move this project forward.”
(NAN)
