The Federal Government has intensified efforts to safeguard Nigeria’s food production system against the devastating effects of climate change with the launch of the Climate-Smart Agribusiness Partnership for Resilience (CSAPR) Project, a major intervention designed to protect farmers, strengthen agricultural value chains and attract private investment into climate-resilient agriculture.
The initiative, unveiled in Abuja under the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) Programme, comes as Nigeria continues to grapple with erratic rainfall, prolonged droughts, destructive floods, pest outbreaks and shifting planting seasons that have increasingly threatened food security and the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers.
Funded by the Gates Foundation through the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the project will be implemented between 2026 and 2028 by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS) in partnership with the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet).
Speaking at the launch, IFAD Country Director, Ms Dede Ekoue, described the project as a decisive intervention aimed at making climate resilience a permanent pillar of Nigeria’s agricultural transformation.
She said the initiative goes beyond another development programme, stressing that it reflects a shared commitment by government, development partners and the private sector to protect food systems from worsening climate shocks while improving agricultural productivity and rural incomes.
According to Ekoue, the project will integrate reliable Climate Information Services (CIS) into farming, agricultural finance, insurance, processing and marketing to enable farmers and agribusinesses to make better-informed decisions and reduce climate-related risks.
She commended the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security for securing the Gates Foundation financing through IFAD’s Global Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP), noting that CSAPR represents the third ASAP-supported climate adaptation intervention in Nigeria after earlier projects in the North-East, North-West and North-Central regions.
Ekoue explained that the project seeks to unlock private-sector investment in climate information by creating commercially viable partnerships that will expand access to weather intelligence for farmers, insurers, lenders, processors and logistics operators.
“The public-private partnership for Climate Information Services complements government efforts by attracting investment into climate intelligence, helping businesses reduce risks while improving services to farmers,” she said.
She added that women, young people and vulnerable rural communities would remain at the centre of project implementation.
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Director-General of NiMet, Prof. Charles Anosike, warned that climate change has become one of the greatest threats confronting Nigeria’s agricultural sector, saying millions of farmers are already experiencing declining yields due to unpredictable weather patterns.
He stressed that timely, accurate and accessible weather forecasts have become indispensable for modern agriculture.
“Farmers need reliable advisories to determine when to plant, what to plant, when to apply inputs, how to minimise losses and how to prepare for extreme weather events,” Anosike said.
He added that financial institutions, insurers, investors and agribusinesses also depend on climate intelligence to protect investments and sustain agricultural value chains.
Anosike pledged that NiMet would strengthen collaboration with IFAD, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, state governments and private-sector partners by expanding seasonal climate predictions, agrometeorological bulletins, impact-based forecasts, early warning systems and digital advisory platforms.
Representing the National Programme Coordinator of SAPZ, Dr Kabir Yusuf, the Programme Operations Manager, Dr Zakari Tsiga, said the project aligns with the programme’s objective of developing climate-resilient agro-industrial ecosystems capable of attracting investment and improving rural livelihoods.
He disclosed that implementation had already begun with climate information dissemination, installation of automated weather stations in Ogun and Kano states and distribution of digital devices to farmer organisations for rapid dissemination of weather information.
According to him, the early achievements underscore the project’s determination to equip farmers with reliable climate intelligence that will improve productivity, reduce losses and strengthen resilience against climate change.
The CSAPR Project is expected to support the Federal Government’s agricultural transformation agenda while advancing the National Agricultural Technology and Innovation Policy (NATIP), the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) commitments and the FGN/IFAD Country Strategic Opportunities Programme (COSOP).
Stakeholders from government institutions, financial organisations, agribusinesses, research institutions, farmer groups, development partners and civil society attended the launch, reaffirming a collective resolve to strengthen Nigeria’s resilience against climate change and secure the country’s future food production.
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