As a small island state with limited rainfall and a dry tropical climate, Cabo Verde is already experiencing fresh water resource constraints. Climate models predict increasing aridity, shifting rainfall patterns and temperature increases. Changing climatic conditions for local communities will not only reduce the availability of water for household needs, but will also negatively impact agricultural productivity.
Although Cabo Verde’s domestic agricultural production only provides 20-30% of the nation’s food, agriculture remains at the core of the country’s rural economy and many communities’ livelihood. The Government of Cabo Verde, with financial support from the Global Environmental Facility’s Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and additional funding from the Government of Canada under the Canada-UNDP Climate Change Adaptation Facility (CCAF), partnered with UNDP to develop an integrated approach to resilient water resource management, through the Building Adaptive Capacity and Resilience to Climate Change in the Water Sector project.
The project is initiating 17 community-led demonstration projects. These projects target the most vulnerable communities on the islands of Santiago and Santo Antao, ensuring the activities address priority needs and harness local knowledge. Once proven as successful practices, they will be replicated and scaled up to reach more communities across the country.
When asked what the challenge facing her community is, Ms. Armanda Fonseca Lopes, president of the Association of the residents of Chã das Furnas in Santo Antão, smiles. “Can’t you see!?” she says, pointing to the extremely arid surroundings of her mountain town.
In ChĂŁ das Furnas, a community in Ribera Grande on the island of Santo Antao, it has not rained in 2 years. Livestock raising and farming are the primary livelihoods in the area, yet the dry conditions have threatened both. Without crops and animal forage, many families have been forced to sell their prized animals to survive. Most of the men and youth have migrated to look for job opportunities, leaving the women to manage the household with limited resources.
While there is water available in the mountains above the village, it is often lost to sea since there is no way to capture it and use it as it travels towards the shore. The project will support the development of a reservoir and water distributions system to help access and use this water. It will pair this with the training of farmers (10 women and 15 men) on different sustainable farming and livestock raising techniques, including drip irrigation methods.
In the region of Sao Miguel on Santiago Island, the project will help the community in Flamengos Tagarra struggling with freshwater access.
While this area was known as a prosperous centre for agricultural products, changing climatic conditions have caused an increasing amount of farm land to lie fallow. With a decrease in rainfall over the past few years, farmers are unable to irrigate their farm plots.
The project is working to address this situation by rehabilitating a wind-pump built in the 1980s, building a reservoir in the mountains just above the site, and installing new pipes to link these two infrastructures to distribute water to the farms. It will also provide training for community members on maintenance, and set up a strategy which employs youth to maintain and manage the new infrastructure.
In addition to demonstration projects, the project is also supporting the National Institute for Agricultural Research and Development (INIDA), to research the adaptive potential of different crop varieties.
The crops’ productivity and sensitivity to various micro-climatic conditions and different irrigation techniques are being tested. Sometimes, this involves introducing new types of crops, which is accompanied by awareness raising and information sharing to their families on how to cook these novel varieties.
They are also identifying new strategies for reducing pests, which are predicted to become increasingly prevalent with the changing climatic conditions.
Based on information generated through this research, INIDA is working with extension workers to provide training, vegetative materials (e.g. new seeds and seedlings) and technical assistance to farmers to implement demonstration plots.
Mr. Manuel from Achada Colaço says that he has gained experience with the project in terms of protection of carrot and tomato crops, and he shares the potato seeds with his farmer friends in the area. He sees the project as providing a better livelihood for his family.
Cabo Verde is one of six countries participating in the global Canada-UNDP Climate Change Adaptation Facility (CCAF), providing an opportunity to share these experiences and lessons learned beyond its borders. All CCAF projects similarly aim to strengthen climate-resilient approaches to agriculture and water management, with an emphasis on gender-sensitive approaches.
The Facility supports projects in Cambodia, Cape Verde, Haiti, Mali, Niger and Sudan that scale up or extend projects previously supported by the Global Environment Facility’s Least Developed Countries Fund, and provides opportunities for the countries to share ideas and experiences with each other in order to strengthen implementation.
For more information on the project in Cabo Verde, visit the UNDP Project Profile: Building adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change in the water sector in Cabo Verde. For more information on the CCAF, visit www.undp-alm.org/projects/ccaf.
To complement this programme, an initiative from GEF-UNDP provides household sanitation for 500 low-income families living on the island of Santiago and has the potential to significantly improve the quality of life of residents.
© 2026 United Nations Development Programme
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