Victoria Mbangwa
The African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), in partnership with the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and a coalition of international organizations, has launched a farmer-focused initiative that puts women and youth-led enterprises at the heart of climate adaptation efforts.
This is a bold step to shield Africa’s farmers from worsening climate impacts.
Announced at the high-level conference “Climate Resilience in Action: Collaborative Approaches to Adaptation” held in Abuja, the initiative seeks to equip micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in key agricultural value chains rice, maize, and cowpea with actionable, real-time climate intelligence and support tools.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Canisius Kanangire, AATF’s Executive Director, said the program represents a shift from reactive policies to proactive, inclusive innovation.
“Climate disruption is already impacting Africa’s farmers, particularly smallholder women and youth, our collaborative project addresses this through support for MSMEs in the rice, maize and cowpea value chains using climate-smart decision support systems.”
Dr. Kayode Sanni, AATF’s lead on digital agriculture, emphasized that the project doesn’t just share weather updates, but integrates them with critical agronomic and soil health advice tailored to farmers’ local realities.
“We’re not only providing weather data, we’re combining it with agronomic practices and soil health indicators,” he said.
At the heart of the strategy is access to digital decision-support systems a leap forward in ensuring that rural farmers can make informed choices in the face of increasingly erratic weather patterns.
On the national front, Professor Charles Anosike, Director-General of NiMet, highlighted the country’s strides in meteorological modernization, including the deployment of AI-powered forecasting systems and expanded weather station networks.
“No single institution can meet this need alone, Nigeria’s climate resilience depends on accurate, timely and locally relevant weather information,” he stated, calling for more cross-sector collaboration to close critical data gaps.
Representing Gombe State, Professor Muazu Shehu reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to grassroots climate action, spotlighting the “Gombe Goes Green” initiative, which has planted over five million trees to combat desertification since 2019.
On behalf of the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development, Professor Eustace Iyayi warned that the agricultural sector remains highly vulnerable to climate volatility.
“Erratic weather and rising temperatures threaten livestock and crop production. Our Nigeria Livestock Growth Acceleration Strategy (NL-GAS) is designed to transform the sector into a $90 billion industry by 2035 through climate-smart practices,” he said.
Dr. Daniel Uyeh of Michigan State University, who leads the development of open-source weather stations now in use across Nigeria and Kenya, called for greater investment in community-powered climate intelligence.
“Our modular, locally sourced weather stations are already in use across Nigeria and Kenya. They empower farmers, extension workers, and even schools. But we must now scale to create a continent-wide network of climate intelligence.”
The conference closed with a call for scaling innovations, centering inclusion, and ensuring that Africa’s most vulnerable especially smallholder women and youth become leaders, not victims, in the battle against climate change.
