The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), under the leadership of its Director General and Chief Executive Officer, Prof. Charles Anosike, paid a courtesy visit to the Honourable Minister of Livestock Development on Tuesday, 16 December 2025.
During the visit, Anosike formally presented the maiden edition of the Livestock Weather Bulletin to the Ministry. He explained that the bulletin is designed to deliver timely, accurate, and livestock-specific weather information to farmers, supporting better decision-making, enhanced productivity, improved planning, and reduced vulnerability to climate and weather-related risks.
Highlighting the critical role of meteorological services in livestock production, Anosike noted that weather conditions directly affect animal health, including heat stress and disease patterns, as well as feed and water availability through pasture growth and drought occurrences. He added that weather information also influences breeding cycles and day-to-day farm operations such as housing and manure management.
According to him, access to reliable forecasts empowers farmers to act proactively, minimise losses, and improve overall production outcomes.
He reaffirmed NiMet’s statutory role as Nigeria’s national authority for weather and climate services and expressed the Agency’s commitment to partnering the Ministry of Livestock Development. This partnership, he said, would include training and capacity-building programmes for extension officers and livestock farmers to strengthen the use of meteorological information and promote climate-resilient livestock systems.
Responding, the Minister of Livestock Development, Alhaji Idi Maiha, underscored the importance of weather forecasting, describing it as an indispensable tool in his own private farming activities.
He revealed that the Ministry has identified 417 grazing reserves across the country and has secured approval for their rehabilitation, stressing that close collaboration with NiMet would be vital to ensuring the programme is climate-smart and resilient to weather variability.
The Minister also disclosed plans to establish a situation room in the Ministry’s new office complex, featuring a dashboard for real-time weather data, and welcomed NiMet’s efforts as being fully aligned with the federal government’s agenda to modernise the livestock sector.
The engagement ended with both parties agreeing to set up a technical working group by January 2026 to define and prioritise areas of collaboration.
It was further agreed that a Memorandum of Understanding would be drafted and signed by the first quarter of 2026 to formalise cooperation on weather data sharing, training, and capacity building, alongside plans for joint workshops and related programmes in early 2026.