Nothing is possible without irrigation: a farm on Santiago Island in Cape Verde
Foto: Carmen Abd Ali / DER SPIEGELDebt Forgiveness for Cape Verde A Climate Deal that Could Become a Model for Others
For our Global Societies project, reporters around the world will be writing about societal problems, sustainability and development in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. The series will include features, analyses, photo essays, videos and podcasts looking behind the curtain of globalization. The project is generously funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
A colossal white cruise ship, absurdly over-sized for the small pier, is docked at Praia Harbor, German tourists rushing out of its belly onto waiting buses. They set off into the interior of Santiago Island, driving up the tight hairpin curves and past the spectacular rock formations. From their windows, they have vistas of yellow grass for a far as the eye can see. The color green, though, is in rather short supply.
Cape Verde is located more than 600 kilometers (370 miles) off the coast of Senegal in the Atlantic Ocean. Geographically, though, the archipelago belongs to the Sahel region. It is extremely arid and only rains a few weeks out of the year. And, as statistics show, Cape Verde is getting less and less precipitation each year - and it often comes in the form of downpours so intense that roads and homes are flooded.
Climate change represents an acute threat to the islands in many different ways: While extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, sea levels are also on the rise. Furthermore, the Atlantic Ocean is becoming more acidic, coral reefs are dying out and many fish are migrating to other areas. "We contribute next to nothing to climate change, but we are paying the price for it," says Alexandre Rodrigues, senior climate adviser at the Environment Ministry.
As an adviser to the Environment Ministry, Alexandre Rodrigues has negotiated a climate deal.
Foto: Carmen Abd Ali / DER SPIEGELIn late January, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres visited the archipelago, issuing an urgent warning that Cape Verde was "on the front lines of an existential crisis," and said he was "deeply frustrated" that governments in the rest of the world weren’t doing enough about it.
The island nation itself, though, has big plans, and Rodrigues can spend hours talking about the numerous initiatives the country would like to pursue. They include seawater desalination plants for irrigating fields, wind turbines and solar power plants, aqua-farms to save fisheries and artificial coral reefs. The list is long. The only thing missing is cash. It would be impossible to finance all these measures with the Cape Verde government’s limited budget.
Now, though, there is hope in sight. In early February, Cape Verde signed a deal with former colonial power Portugal. Some 140 million euros of debt owed to Lisbon is to be gradually cancelled - on the condition that the entire amount is invested in a climate fund. That fund is then to be used to finance the Environment Ministry plans, though the precise shape of those plans is still under negotiation. Cape Verde is one of the more economically stable countries in Africa, which increases the chances of success for such a deal. Some 12 million euros are expected to flow into the climate fund by 2025. "This is a real breakthrough," says Rodrigues. "And hopefully just the beginning for other creditors to follow."
Farmer Simao Dos Santos
Foto: Carmen Abd Ali / DER SPIEGEL
Solar panels have been installed to run irrigation for farmers, but there is a shortage of water.
Foto: Carmen Abd Ali / DER SPIEGEL
Simoa Don Santos grows squash in his garden, but the harvest is rather meager.
Foto: Carmen Abd Ali / DER SPIEGELSimao Dos Santos is standing barefoot in his field, and the dust he kicks up with each step is immediately blown away by the wind. The farmer bends down and lays a thin plastic hose along the dry furrows. Later, water will flow through and drip into the ground through small holes. Otherwise, nothing would grow here. Dos Santos points to the left side of the field, where green leaves are poking out of the ground – in a few weeks, he’ll be able to harvest squash. There’s little growing on the right side, despite the irrigation. Dos Santos points to a group of trees located right next to the field. "The roots take away what little water there is," the farmer explains.
The fact that he can irrigate his field at all is thanks to a government project. A well was drilled, solar panels for pumps installed, and hoses were laid to the individual fields. But the joy didn’t last for very long. The groundwater level in the area continues to drop due to a lack of rain. "We would need ten times as much water to farm the fields effectively," Dos Santos laments. Sometimes, he can’t water for a week because the pipes stay dry. The result being that a large part of his fields lie fallow.
The government now wants to try a new solution: There are plans to build a large desalination plant for seawater nearby so that the fields can be irrigated, with the Environment Ministry hoping this will significantly boost agricultural production on the island. Currently, more than 80 percent of the food on Cape Verde has to be imported, an expensive endeavor. "The new desalination plant would save us," farmer Dos Santos believes. The government has already secured funds from Hungary for the project, and the debt deal with Portugal would allow for expansion.
A desalination plant near Praia.
Foto: Carmen Abd Ali / DER SPIEGEL
Around 90 percent of the drinking water of Santiago Island is produced here.
Foto: Carmen Abd Ali / DER SPIEGELThe capital city of Praia already has a similar plant, which supplies residents of the drought-stricken island of Santiago with tap water. At least it was supposed to. Senior engineer Mario Pereira is standing in front of a large monitor displaying the various pumping and filtration systems: four lines, each representing a capacity of 5,000 cubic meters. But only three of the lines light up green. The fourth is red, meaning it is out of commission. "There’s always something," Pereira mumbles, pushing a few buttons, although it does nothing to change the red status.
The desalination plant, which runs 24 hours a day, has been expanded twice - once in 2013 and again in 2022. But the operators still can’t keep up with Praia’s gigantic growth. "We fill maybe 70 percent of the demand," says engineer Pereira. "We actually need much more capacity." Demand has also been growing because many wells and dams on the island have long since dried up, and seawater is the only alternative. The plant’s electricity is generated primarily by an old diesel generators, an expensive and not exactly environmentally friendly technology. The government in Cape Verde also wants to change that in the future, and it could use the money from the debt deal with Portugal to do so.
They are still just plans, big ideas, but at least they provide a ray of hope for this country on the western edge of Africa, plagued as it is by climate change. Several other countries like Kenya, Colombia, Pakistan and Argentina are seeking similar deals with their creditors, and the model is already being implemented in some Central American and Caribbean countries. It could, in other words, become something of a standard - a beacon of hope. In part because criticism of the industrialized world - that wealthy countries are not doing enough to combat climate change - continues to grow louder.
This piece is part of the Global Societies series. The project runs for three years and is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The Global Societies series involves journalists reporting in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe on injustices, societal challenges and sustainable development in a globalized world. A selection of the features, analyses, photo essays, videos and podcasts, which originally appear in DER SPIEGEL’s Foreign Desk section, will also appear in the Global Societies section of DER SPIEGEL International. The project is initially scheduled to run for three years and receives financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
