The Current Status of Irrigated Agriculture in Cape Verde and its Link to water Scarcity

In arid regions with low precipitation like most of the Cape Verde islands, irrigation plays a crucial role in increasing crop yields and maintaining agricultural production. This translates into more food availability, reducing hunger and poverty. However, irrigation requires significant invest-ment, so it is vital to ensure efficient water use and reduce irrigation losses and operating costs. The aim of this study is to evaluate irrigated agriculture in Cape Verde and its relationship with water scarcity, through the calculation of indicators and the analysis of statistical data. The study was initiated collecting crop production data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment. Climatic data provided by the National Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics of Cape Verde (INMG) and by the Wapor (Water Productivity Monitoring through Open Access Remotely Sensed Data) portal from FAO. The island of Sal presented the lowest aridity index value (0.07), while the Cachaço area on the island of São Nicolau presented the highest (0.41). Currently, sugarcane is the most important crop in irrigated agriculture, covering an area of more than 3,000 hectares of the approximately 5,000 hectares of irrigated land in Cape Verde, with the average area of irrigated plots being approximately 0.5 hectares.