NiMet
Ola Wale
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has been accused of providing poor and misleading weather forecasts, leading to significant financial losses for farmers. A report by the Foundation for Peace Professionals (PeacePro) claims that Nigerian farmers lost around N5 trillion in productive capital between 2024 and 2025 due to these inaccurate forecasts. The losses are attributed to poorly timed policy interventions, price suppression mechanisms, weak market coordination, and unreliable weather forecasting by NiMet.
The report highlights that the agriculture sector is in a deep structural crisis, with the most severe damage concentrated among market-facing producers, not subsistence farmers. The affected group includes 6-8 million producers, small and medium-scale commercial farmers, storage-poor price-taking producers, and farmers engaged in grains, tubers, vegetables, and legumes.
NiMet’s Director General, Prof. Charles Anosike, has emphasized the importance of accurate weather forecasting in agricultural planning. He urged farmers to rely on NiMet’s weather prediction information to plan their farming activities and crop-planting calendar to mitigate pre-and post-harvest losses.
However, a civic group, Kwara Must Change (KMC), has accused NiMet of failing in its core responsibility of providing accurate and reliable weather forecasts. The group claims that thousands of farmers in Asa Local Government Area of Kwara State were misled by NiMet’s 2025 Seasonal Climate Prediction, leading to widespread crop failure and devastating financial losses.
The inaccurate forecast led to a three-month drought in the middle of the growing season, destroying maize, yam, sorghum, and vegetable farms. The KMC has demanded immediate explanations from NiMet and the Federal Government, stressing that farmers deserve accountability and urgent corrective action.
In response to these challenges, NiMet has partnered with MTN Nigeria to disseminate weather and climate information to farmers and users nationwide. The collaboration aims to leverage MTN’s extensive telecommunications infrastructure to provide timely updates, enabling farmers to make informed decisions and optimize agricultural practices.
NiMet has also emphasized the importance of collaboration between the agency, farmers, and other stakeholders to ensure that farmers get accurate and reliable climate information. The agency provides weather forecasts and advisories through its Agrometeorological Bulletin, issued every dekad (10-day period).
