Cape Verde defeats climate change through South-South cooperation – Global Issues

The UN agency is facilitating experts from China to share their knowledge and skills with farmers in the West African country through a collaborative process known as South-South cooperation.*

Cabo Verde consists of ten islands in the central Atlantic Ocean, nine of which are inhabited.

Although the country’s name means “Green Cape” in Portuguese, it is not that green at this time of year. The brutal dry season only gets hotter until July, when the rainy season should begin.

Drought and pests

During this period, water becomes the most valuable resource for farmers. When reserves from the last rainy season are depleted, they are forced to buy water, which affects their profits.

Climate change has also led to an increase in soil erosion, while soil fertility has decreased. Rising temperatures have also made Cape Verde a favorable environment for new pests to thrive.

The fall worm has wreaked havoc on corn crops since it arrived in the country in 2017. Other pests include fruit flies, which mainly attack the mango crop, and tomato maggots, named after their favorite target.

Search for help

By means of FAOCape Verde asked for help in combating these challenges, something that China could provide.

South-South cooperation refers to technical partnerships between developing countries in the Global South. Projects combine the technologies and experience of visiting countries with the needs and requests of host countries, transferring knowledge and skills through partnerships.

In this case, China has passed on to Cape Verde what it has learned in its own rural areas, which are very similar to those inland on Santiago, the largest island in the chain.

Farmers Willy and Nena work together in Santiago on land affected by drought and pests. They took part in a training on soil management and pest control offered by FAO as part of a project under the FAO-China South-South Cooperation Program (SSC)..

“It helped me enormously,” Willy recently told the UN agency. “It is the first time that I have participated in a training program that discusses what we really need.”

Learning and growing

Willy previously did not pay much attention to soil and regarded it as just a basic input, but Yanhua Zeng, a horticulture and soil expert sent by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, soon changed that.

Willy learned to recognize a nutrient deficiency in the land and now uses goat manure and crop residues to improve the quality of the soil.

Katya Neves, assistant FAO representative in charge of the Cape Verde program, recalled Willy saying he used to buy organic fertilizer.

“Now he’s learned how to do it,” she said, “and the money he might save will support another part of his farm. So he can use the savings to invest in other things in his own company.”

Since receiving the training, Willy has worked with other farmers, sharing his knowledge and what he learned from the experts. In doing so, he has achieved one of the objectives of the project: that the training passed on to farmers is further spread by the farmers themselves.

*You can read the full FAO report here.