The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA) has awarded a grant to the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) to assess weather forecasting needs to serve Ghana’s agriculture, hydropower, and water resources sectors.
TDA said the US$235,000 grant was conferred in a signing ceremony between U.S. Ambassador Donald Teitelbaum and GMet Director General Michael Tanu in late April.
The grant is to be used to assess Ghana’s forecasting needs and to identify necessary equipment, facilities, and staff. The goal is to make accurate and timely weather information available to aviation, agriculture, energy, and water resource users.
�Agricultural production employs 56 percent of Ghana’s workforce, and hydropower production accounts for 99 percent of the electricity consumed by the country,� TDA said. �Desertification has endangered some of Ghana’s farmland, and recent dry spells have brought inadequate rainfall to keep hydropower production at requisite levels.�
TDA said opportunities to provide the TDA-funded assistance will be announced on the U.S. Federal Business Opportunities Internet site, www.fbo.gov. GMet is to select a U.S. contractor to perform the work.
