Boa Vista Island
Agriculture on the island of Boa Vista (archipelago of Cape Verde, Africa) is a daily challenge. In fact, the lack of fresh water, coupled with an excessive cost for its supply and electricity, is a hardship felt by the local agricultural sector. One solution came with the installation of solar panels by an Italian company, Genius Watter, a project that proved vital for the farmers of Associação Varandinha and the nearby community of 250 people. A reverse osmosis desalination solution was used, without batteries and powered by 100 percent solar energy. Clean, potable water is now available for both agriculture and nearby villagers at much lower prices than before. In fact, farmers in Varandinha used to irrigate their land using underground saline water, resulting in increasingly salty and significantly less productive soil. In addition, the neighboring community was forced to purchase poor quality water at high cost. In Varandinha I meet Henrique Cruz, president of the Varandinha Farmers' Association. “We started in 2014 with a borehole,” he tells me, showing me part of the large vegetable gardens almost next to the solar panel plant. “There was a lot of water but it was saline. Every year it was worse, the salinity didn't allow key crops to grow and cultivate. We wondered if it was possible to continue, then we met a donor. He saved our lives. There were economic reasons certainly, but also social reasons to help the people in the village of Povoacao Velha. We started growing peppers, potatoes, grapes, corn, and tomatoes again. We couldn't grow tomatoes before, as well as peppers and some fruits.” The company's innovative solutions have effectively transformed the lives of the local community by providing essential resources in a sustainable and environmentally respectful way.