Professional Evaluation of NiMet Weather Advisory Services for Agricultural Extension Delivery in Kano State

The integration of weather advisory services into agricultural extension systems is a professional imperative for improving farm-level decision-making in Nigeria's semi-arid North West zone. This study evaluates the effectiveness of NiMet weather advisory products as tools for agricultural extension delivery in Kano State, assessing the relevance, accessibility, and practical uptake of forecast information among extension agents and farmers. A mixed-method design combining structured questionnaires administered to 80 extension agents across Kano State's agricultural zones and in-depth interviews with 10 NiMet professional staff was employed. A gap analysis framework compared the current state of weather advisory product design against the information needs articulated by extension professionals. Results reveal that only 31 percent of extension agents routinely incorporate NiMet seasonal outlooks into advisory messages, with the primary barriers identified as technical complexity of forecast language, inadequate dissemination channels, and insufficient training on weather product interpretation. Farmers' awareness of NiMet as a weather information source is found to be critically low at 18 percent among surveyed household heads. The study recommends co-design of simplified agrometeorological bulletins through structured user engagement sessions between NiMet communication specialists and agricultural development program officers. A standardized weather advisory translation protocol for Hausa-language radio dissemination is proposed as a key deliverable for improved extension integration. Keywords: weather advisory, agricultural extension, NiMet, Kano, agrometeorological.