BY OLAPEJU OLUBI
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), On Friday, January 24, 2025, formalised a partnership with MTN and Tomorrow.io, a global leader in advanced weather intelligence, through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
The strategic collaboration is focused on developing an innovative Digital Climate Advisory Services (DCAS) System aimed at delivering precise, location-specific, and actionable weather advisories to Nigerian farmers via mobile SMS.
The DCAS System is a game-changing initiative that integrates Tomorrow.io’s sophisticated weather prediction and climate intelligence technologies with MTN’s vast telecommunications infrastructure. By doing so, it seeks to provide farmers across Nigeria with timely and accurate weather information tailored to their specific locations.
Through simple mobile text messages, farmers will receive actionable insights on critical climate variables, such as rainfall, temperature, and seasonal forecasts, enabling them to make informed decisions about planting, irrigation, harvesting, and other key agricultural activities.
The partnership comes at a critical time when Nigerian farmers are increasingly faced with the challenges of unpredictable weather patterns and climate change impacts, which threaten agricultural productivity and food security.
By equipping farmers with real-time, localized weather information, the DCAS System aims to reduce crop losses, improve yields, and enhance resilience against climate-induced risks.
The partnership which is in line with the United Nations (UN) goal of ensuring early warning systems for all would serve the need of strengthening climate resilience in Nigeria, particularly in the agricultural sector.
Speaking at the MoU signing at NiMet Headquarters in Abuja, the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Professor Charles Anosike said that the overall aim of the partnership is to improve agricultural productivity and resilience by providing localized, timely weather advisories.
“This aligns with the food security agenda of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu government”, he said.
Continuing, Professor Anosike said that the choice of MTN and Tomorrow.io is strategic as they are leaders in their respective sectors.
“I am excited welcoming the MTN CEO, Karl Toriola, the officials Shoyinka Shodunke (Chief Information Officer),Tobechukwu Okigbo (Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer), and the Tomorrow.io team to NiMet for this groundbreaking MoU signing that will impact not only the agricultural sector but the entire Nigerian economy. My primary objective has been to open up the space of the business of climate science to the private sector so that they will begin to understand the incredible impact of climate science”, he concluded.
Responding, the Chief Executive Officer of MTN, Karl Toriola said that MTN is always looking for ways to support government agencies and the Nigerian public in general.
“I am optimistic about what this partnership with NiMet and Tomorrow.io will do for the agricultural sector, emergency and disaster management, the public and the Nigerian economy as a whole. From the bottom of our hearts we are grateful to NiMet for allowing MTN to partner with it”.
The Managing Director of Tomorrow.io, Dr. Henry Onyemachi thanked the DG/CEO of NiMet, Prof. Charles Anosike for his strong leadership directing the process leading to the signing of the MoU. “For us at Tomorrow.io, it’s a very happy moment for us reflecting on the progressive and very focused journey which began a year ago. This is a very impactful project that we are embarking on which touches on the food security that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been harping on”, he said.
Under the terms of the MoU, the parties shall collaborate in the development, deployment, and testing of the DCAS platform, which will provide weather-based advisories to farmers through SMS notifications.
