HomeUnited NationsWithin drought-stricken Cabo Verde, UN chief finds hope for developing sustainable oasis

Within drought-stricken Cabo Verde, UN chief finds hope for developing sustainable oasis

‘Gota the gota’ is one of the initiatives, and it has been making drip irrigation more accessible to countless farmers. “Only 3, 000 hectares spread across the 10 islands are irrigated, but studies show that this number can increase to 5, 500, ” explained Mrs. Neves, Assistant Representative at FAO.   Echoing that sentiment, the Secretary-General said at the same event: “I know that for Cabo Verde – just like other Small Island Building States – which are a priority in the relationship and action of the United Nations – faces major problems, such as the consequences of the outbreak and, above all, the increase in the cost of living, which has a devastating impact on the population. ” “I don’t know if ten young people live there at this time, ” Mr. Cruz Duarte explained. “The other ones all left for other places, because of the lack of jobs, rain, drought. Sometimes, even if you have livestock, you don’t have enough forage to feed them. There is no other livelihood, so they still left to look for a better life. ”  

Santo Antão, one of the greenest and most mountainous islands of Cape Verde, is host to several UN system climate resilience and sustainable development projects.
UN NEws/Mark Garten

Two years ago, the full-time instructor decided to start working the plots of land she had inherited.   UN Photo/Mark Garten As Mr. Guterres visited one of the terraces, on the second day of their visit to the country, he was welcomed by a group of maqui berry farmers. With them, an expert from the EL Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO ), Katya Neves, explained that they were in the middle of an experimental garden, where men and women are trying out new plant varieties and learning about sustainable strategies.  

Assistant Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Katya Neves, helps bolster sustainable development on Santo Antão, Cape Verde.
For many years following the country’s independence, in 1975, WFP was responsible for the food item for all students in Cabo Verde. But the country managed to graduate out of the UN’s Least Developed Country category to a reduced middle-income country in 3 years ago and, a few years later, the federal government took over that task. Among the decisions it made is that 25 per cent of all food in schools used needs to be bought locally.  

  Managing drinking water amidst drought  

For many years following the country’s independence, in 1975, WFP was responsible for the food item for all students in Cabo Verde. But the country managed to graduate out of the UN’s Least Developed Country category to a reduced middle-income country in 3 years ago and, a few years later, the federal government took over that task. Among the decisions it made is that 25 per cent of all food in schools used needs to be bought locally.  

For many years following the country’s independence, in 1975, WFP was responsible for the food item for all students in Cabo Verde. But the country managed to graduate out of the UN’s Least Developed Country category to a reduced middle-income country in 3 years ago and, a few years later, the federal government took over that task. Among the decisions it made is that 25 per cent of all food in schools used needs to be bought locally.  

Spike in food insecurity  

For many years following the country’s independence, in 1975, WFP was responsible for the food item for all students in Cabo Verde. But the country managed to graduate out of the UN’s Least Developed Country category to a reduced middle-income country in 3 years ago and, a few years later, the federal government took over that task. Among the decisions it made is that 25 per cent of all food in schools used needs to be bought locally.  

Through farm to school cafeteria  

Back in the area, Mr. Cruz Duarte is also not giving up. Even after viewing most of his friends depart his little town, he did the opposite  – after years in a neighboring island, São Vicente, the particular farmer returned to work the land of his forefathers. “Agriculture is my calling, ” he says.   “We are empowering the producers with knowledge and equipment, ” she added.   Till very recently, the islands, which sits in the Ocean Ocean off the coast associated with West Africa, could have been regarded as a champion in poverty reduction efforts among Sub-Saharan countries. Estimates from the Entire world Bank show that poverty rates declined by 6 percentage points between 2015 and 2019, from 41 per cent to 35 per cent.   Pointing towards the bottom of the valley, close to a creek filled with yams, the farmer explained the beans are grown entirely up in Santa Isabel, a locality at the top of the highest mountain the eye can see, the ragged edge where the eco-friendly of the land meets the blue of the sky.   This is among the challenges for Dairson da Cruz Duarte, the young local farmer  that delivered the coffee that amazed the Secretary-General – he  didn’t know the island created it.   The particular farmer has thought about this very day for a long time. He has big dreams, that see his create travelling well beyond the best town on the island, Porto Novo, to far nations, when the word about the quality of these products gets out. A combination of government and EL sponsored projects, he says, might help turn this into a fact.     For hours, António Guterres’  car had moved together a sinuous road, which usually opened against an dry landscape, but then one final curve, and a few hundred ft up a hill, the view outside his windowpane bursts into myriad colors of green, as small terraces supported by stone wall space filled with banana trees, palms and sugar cane, came into view, with silvery drinking water streams flickering in the distance.   For Mrs. Estrela, the “bigger goal is focusing on the whole sector and seeking to organize the whole chain, through putting the seed on the ground to putting the food for the plate. ”   The lush Paúl Valley can be found in the mountainous island of Santo Antão, the westernmost island of Cabo Verde, and represents an oasis in an archipelago where only 10 per cent of the land is arable. Of that already small area, close to eighteen per cent was lost between your years 2000 and 2020.   UN Photo/Mark Garten One of the projects the UN system provides supported is the formation of an Association of Producers within this valley. The agencies have also supported the construction of two commercial warehouses where the crops can be gathered, washed and prepared for sale.   The food produced by these farmers, just like the Secretary-General tried today, will be washed and grouped together in the new warehouses, loaded into boats, and eventually achieve children in other islands. Simultaneously, the project will be duplicated in other municipalities. Soon, the exampled of Paúl will help feed around 90, 500 students, almost 20 per cent of the country’s population.   Sara Estrela, a Sustainable Development Assistant at the UN Development Program ( UNDP ), explains that, in the past, farmers are not usually structured in associations or cooperatives in Cabo Verde.  

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