The Federal Government has launched a smart phone application, “Wetin App”, for flood forecasting along the Niger and Benue rivers.
The application, which is available on Google app store, is a collaborative project of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Shehu Ahmed, said Nigeria sought the help of the international agency to develop the application following the devastating flood of 2012 which led to huge destruction of farms, houses and human lives.
Represented by the Director of Agricultural Businesses, Processing and Marketing Azeez M. Olumuyiwa, the Permanent Secretary said the country had decided to turn that bitter experience into a blessing by looking at various ways farmers and government could take advantage of the technology.
The Regional Director for Africa at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Professor Timothy Olalekan Williams, said the application was developed using data from the Nigerian Hydrological Service Agency, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency and satellite data.’
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