The United States Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) handed-over weather monitoring tools to the Tanzania Meteorological Authority (TMA).
Supplies include pH meters, standard rain gauges, measuring cylinders and bottles, a desktop computer, and the development of a new database server.
Since 2015, USAID has funded the “Building Capacity for Resilient Food Security Project”. For six years, USAID has provided about $5.3 million to support climate smart interventions in Tanzania.
Through technical assistance from FAO, this project helps TMA improve the accuracy of weather bulletins for farmers and communicators, known as “extension officers.” With this improved information, farmers will be able to make better decisions about when to plant and harvest crops, thereby maximizing production and income.
The weather monitoring equipment and supporting climate service database technology handed over last week, allow TMA to collect localized weather data.“The new supplies and database server will strengthen TMA’s capacity to collect and store localized weather information.
These are integral components to timely and accurate information dissemination and help farmers to use weather information throughout planting and harvesting seasons,” said USAID’s Director of Economic Growth, Terhi Majanen.
The equipment and supporting technology will also help Tanzania expand production and food security in the face of climate change. Through such initiatives, sustainable development is made possible and self-reliance is achieved.
“On behalf of the Tanzania Meteorological Authority, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the United States Government and FAO for cooperating with us, for reaching out to more collaborators in Tanzania, and providing education on the use of weather information for agriculture. Your support for the procurement of the rain-gauges and the development of the web-based agriculture climate services’ database is very important for increasing data availability and weather forecast accuracy,” said TMA Director General, Dr. Agnes Kijazi.