Picos and Engenhos Catchment Basins Improvement and Development Project

28 April 2010
Content from a Premium Partner
African Development Bank (Abidjan)
press release

The project aims at helping to reduce rural poverty through soil conservation and water resource mobilization, as well as resource development for agricultural produce conservation in order to improve the project beneficiaries' income.

Results achieved: In both basins, the project improved 297 hectares through the cultivation of 5 km of vegetation; 3042 m3 of dry-stone dykes, 3642 m3 of masonry, 6967m3 of wall gabions, 82.67 km of lines stone; repairing 15.75 km of protected banks, 24.8 km of hedges, 144.66 km of walls, 12.261 half-moon facilities (caldeiras) and plantations; cultivating 1135 hectares of pigeon peas, 22.939 fruit trees and developing nine acres of parcel land, planting151.975 forest trees and anti-erosive species.

Torrential flow correction infrastructure was built, such as 117 torrent correction dykes, 103 dykes in mason stone, 10 Gabion dykes, 4 dry-stone dykes, 1.9 km of protected banks.

Infrastructure to mobilize water resources was also built. This includes 17 dams to capture water, 5 water storage reservoirs of large capacity, 10 water storage reservoirs of small capacity, as well as 3 underground screens and 19 wells. These works helped to harness over 30,000 m3 of water per year.

The project aims at helping to reduce rural poverty through soil conservation and water resource mobilization, as well as resource development for agricultural produce conservation in order to improve the project beneficiaries' income.

The credit scheme funded around 75 projects, including 30 for agricultural projects, 39 livestock breeding projects and 6 trade-related projects estimated at UA 251 090 million.

Farming organizations were supported through the creation of 17 associations and the revitalization of 7 others, bringing together 936 and 738 members respectively, most of whom are women.

Thirty young people benefited from vocational technical training on long-term agricultural produce and 18 were given construction and agricultural engineering training. Short-term technical training on livestock management and pasture improvement were provided, benefiting 170 people. One hundred and seven people were trained in techniques of agricultural produce and increased production of pigeon peas, 26 in credit management, 20 leaders in association management, and 81 producers in farm management. The participants were mostly women.

The project had a visible impact on the valuation of the Picos and Engenhos basins on Santiago Island, small-scale irrigation schemes development, as well as on farmers' and livestock breeders' income. It also resulted in a significant improvement in access to water in rural areas and it raised the awareness of the rural population on rural development issues.

Testimonial: Oumar Barry, Picos and Engenhos Catchment Basins Improvement and Development Project Coordinator

"The Picos and Engenhos Catchment Basins Improvement and Development Project is one of the major programmes carried out by the government in efforts at fighting poverty, checking natural resources exploitation and ensuring environmental protection. The project was designed to exploit natural resources (soil conservation and water mobilization) to support population and agro-forestry and livestock development organization in the two watersheds. Microcredit is an important component in agricultural, forestry and livestock development. The project is funded by AfDB, BADEA and the Cape Verdean government. Prior to carrying out the project, there was no infrastructure to mobilize water and protect the environment. Today we can speak about the impact the project has created. The first impact is the infrastructure development in the two basins. Two hundred and eighty-four infrastructure facilities have been installed, and these included 134 soil conservation dams, 27 water catchments, 4 underground dams, 19 boreholes (12 in Picos and 7 in Engenhos) and eight reservoirs to capture water (3 in Picos and 5 in Engenhos).

We've equally worked with community-based associations to protected banks, erect walls, plant trees on slopes, among others. The second impact is economic. All water collected in the basins is used to irrigate crops and water animals. It was originally designed to irrigate 169 areas, but currently, it irrigates 294 areas. Two hundred and ninety-five families were mobilized around this area. Each family used half a hectare of irrigated land and gets a net income of 30,000 escudos from vegetable crops (cabbage, potato, tomato) every quarter. Beyond these areas, we support the plantation of pigeon peas (over 300 hectares) and seed for pasture (400 hectares). We get around 1,320 kg per hectare of pasture, contributing to the improvement of livestock nutrition and, indirectly the income of livestock owners. The introduction of improved breed animals has also contributed in improving the production system. Now, we have cows that produce up to 15 liters of milk per day."

Contacts

Yolanda Nunes Correia

Read the original article on African Development Bank (AfDB).

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