Africa-Press – Cape verde. The government today inaugurated the first phase of a programme to mobilise seawater for agriculture, through desalination, to tackle the problem of aridity.
The programme “will allow agriculture to no longer be dependent on the rainy season”, said the Prime Minister, Ulisses Correia e Silva, in São Domingos.
The seawater treatment plant for agricultural fields, removing salt, which was inaugurated today, is located in the municipality of São Domingos and will be connected to irrigation systems to support up to 1,200 beneficiaries, according to government data, resulting in an increase of 883,300 cubic metres of water per year in agricultural areas.
The desalination plant operates with energy generated by solar panels, which will reduce the costs of the process, the Prime Minister pointed out.
“We are developing similar projects in other locations”, such as Santa Cruz, which will be “operational soon”, and on the islands of São Vicente, Santo Antão (municipality of Porto Novo), Boa Vista and Maio, he said.
The works on the different islands represent an investment of 42 million euros and are the result of cooperation with Hungary, explained Ulisses Correia e Silva.
The Water Mobilisation Programme for Agriculture (WMPA) is aligned with several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as the eradication of poverty and hunger.
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