The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and Save The Children, a non-governmental organization, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at enhancing Early Warning Systems for vulnerable communities across Nigeria.
Speaking during the signing ceremony held at NiMet headquarters, Prof. Charles Anosike, Director General and Chief Executive Officer of NiMet, shared that the partnership will facilitate efforts on disaster risk reduction projects.
Professor Anosike disclosed that NiMet is currently engaged in risk assessment mapping, and both organizations can utilize the resulting vulnerability map to enhance their efforts.
He further noted that NiMet is in the process of developing a crop calendar for farmers.
In his words, “Although we are gathering information from the farmers, they also need support. For us to be able to follow the standardised way of providing extension and advisory services to farmers, developing this platform together with your team will be really impactful.
We will share experiences. It will be all encompassing and will also address farmers and herders conflict.”
In response, Mr. Poston Kragnigr, Deputy Country Director of Save The Children, stated that his organization is among the few in Nigeria actively responding to humanitarian disasters in the North East, North West, and across the country.
He noted that Save The Children has developed an ICT-based Early Warning System aimed at providing timely alerts.
According to him, the system ensures that communities receive crucial information quickly, enhancing their resilience.
“We have developed an Early Warning System, an ICT-based platform, designed to provide timely alerts to communities, helping them receive critical information promptly and become more resilient. This initiative aims to reduce the negative impact of such disasters. This is why we seek to establish a strategic partnership with NiMet,” he said.
Mr Kragnigr announced that Save the Children intends to enhance its platform to receive customized forecasts for Nigeria, particularly for flood-prone communities, enabling them to receive timely alerts before a flood event occurs. This would help mitigate its adverse effects.
