Under Contract

• The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded a $48.6 million contract to Abt Associates to “increase regional trade competitiveness in West Africa, improve food security, and reduce poverty under USAID’s Trade Hub Network,” according to a release from the company. It will engage with the private sector while also working on the “policies, rules and practices that govern regional and external trade.” The project is based in Accra, Ghana, but will have satellite offices in Dakar, Senegal; and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. 

• Beavers living in Mississippi’s Delta National Forest are causing a nuisance to the U.S. Forest Service and nearby landowners by blocking up waterways and drainages with their homes. The Forest Service awarded a contract worth up to $126,000 to Yvette F. Jansen to trap the beavers and remove the water-blocking dams. The contract could last up to five years.

• The Navy is buying gun simulator systems to replicate the recoil effect and potential issues — such as ammunition jamming — with a .50 caliber rifle and a M240 machine gun. Acme Worldwide Enterprises manufactures the products and won an $115,400 contract from the armed service. 

• The Department of Veterans Affairs awarded a $56,608 contract to AF&S Products and Services for the “procurement, assembly, framing, delivery and installation of artwork for the Pan American Life Building” in New Orleans. The building is home to the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System.

• The Department of Agriculture awarded a contract worth about $400,000 to Better World Manufacturing for its flytraps. The USDA’s Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service depends on the company’s “multi-lure” traps to catch wild Medflies, one of the most destructive pests to crops. The agency is trying to control the Mediterranean fly population and eventually eradicate the species, which can each lay 400 eggs into fruit.

• FEMA is paying more than $19.9 million over five years to provide “hands-on” training for “state and local emergency response personnel to respond to all hazards, including terrorist attacks using weapons of mass destruction.” Contractor Apprio Inc. will provide the services at the Center for Domestic Preparedness, FEMA’s national training facility located in Anniston, Ala.

Contract information compiled from General Services Administration data and government press releases. Send announcements about government contracts to mwilson@digital-staging.thehill.com.