The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) is developing a digital platform, the NiMet Data Hub, to provide farmers, livestock keepers, and agricultural advisers with reliable, location-specific weather and climate information. The platform is being developed in partnership with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and Crea2Solutions. The initiative aims to improve access to historical, monitored, and forecast climate information to support seasonal planning, risk assessment, and climate-informed decisions across Nigeria's agricultural sector.
The development of the NiMet Data Hub began in February 2026 under the Climate Services for Youth (CS4Y) and AGRA programmes. The platform has progressed from the design and mock-up stage to an advanced Minimum Viable Product (MVP), with NiMet's weather and climate services currently undergoing testing. The project has focused on mapping Nigeria's agro-meteorological data and advisory ecosystem and identifying gaps in information generation, coordination, and delivery through stakeholder engagements co-hosted by NiMet and ILRI.
The NiMet Data Hub is expected to serve a broad range of users, including farmers, pastoralists, agricultural extension professionals, researchers, government institutions, and private-sector advisory providers. The platform will provide users with access to information that can be translated into context-specific agro-weather advisories. NiMet's existing resources, including online map rooms and agricultural climate products, are expected to feed into the platform.
The initiative is aligned with the Federal Government's food security, climate-smart agriculture, and digital service priorities under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's Renewed Hope Agenda. The platform's development is also linked to ILRI's broader work on organising research data, developing digital tools, and improving the usability of information for partners and decision-makers.
The development of the NiMet Data Hub comes amid persistent challenges in the delivery of climate services to agricultural producers, including fragmented data, weak coordination among information providers, and difficulties in translating technical weather forecasts into practical advice for farmers. The partners are working to strengthen institutional linkages, improve the communication of climate information to end users, and ensure that gender and social inclusion considerations are incorporated into the platform.
As the platform moves through testing, the focus will be on ensuring that technical weather and climate information is converted into timely and usable guidance for producers and agricultural advisers. The broader objective is to strengthen preparedness, reduce climate-related losses, and improve the resilience of Nigeria's agri-food livelihoods by making relevant climate information more accessible to those who need it.
For agricultural producers, access to such information could support decisions around planting periods, livestock management, crop protection, and preparation for weather and climate-related risks. The initiative is expected to have a positive impact on Nigeria's agricultural sector, which is a significant contributor to the country's economy.
Key points
- The NiMet Data Hub aims to provide location-specific weather and climate information to farmers and agricultural advisers to support seasonal planning and risk assessment.
- The platform is being developed in partnership with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and Crea2Solutions.
- The initiative is aligned with the Federal Government's food security, climate-smart agriculture, and digital service priorities under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's Renewed Hope Agenda.
