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Not sure on other islands but none on Fogo or Sao Vicente.

Hi all,

Water is an extremely scarce commodity in Cape Verde. Showers on the beach are therefore not a thing here. There is no supply of water to send to any beach. Can you imagine how many millions of liters would likely be wasted? Who would pay for that?

Hotels have showers at their pools. People have showers in their homes. And the public water supply is not available 24x7, but for just a few hours a day.  Best to shower at home, which is what all local beachgoers do.

Cheers,

Angelo

@CVAngelo

why not get more installations to transform sea water to drinkable water and start irrigating the land …?

i read somewhere cape verde is 1 of the dryest places on earth..

    @CVAngelo
why not get more installations to transform sea water to drinkable water and start irrigating the land …?

i read somewhere cape verde is 1 of the dryest places on earth..
   

    -@Saxio

Yes, indeed. That's how 95% of water is supplied in all of the islands. It is desalinated water drawn from the ocean. Those plants are very expensive. There are some private plants in Sal and Boavista that were installed by the big hotels to ensure 24x7 supply to their international tourist guests.

In addition, there is drip irrigation from desal plants (not potable), several massive dams for collecting rainwater and distributing by drip, as well as well-water (delivered in trucks), all for the agricultural regions of the country (Santiago, Fogo, Santo António and São Nicolau (which are the regions which supply food into the food supply chain).

In essence, they've been implementing various solutions for decades. The lowest priority would of course be for water uses which are not sustainable, like showers on the beach.

Hope this helps your understanding of the water infrastructure in CV.

Cheers,

Angelo

@CVAngelo

ok, I also read that Cape Verde is getting subsidies from Europe , why is some of that money not used to make it possible to irrigate more land for agriculture so that 90% of food does not need to be imported ?

maybe it is very difficult / very expensive because there is only 1 day of rain per year to be self sufficient foodwise ..

    @CVAngelo
ok, I also read that Cape Verde is getting subsidies from Europe , why is some of that money not used to make it possible to irrigate more land for agriculture so that 90% of food does not need to be imported ?

maybe it is very difficult / very expensive because there is only 1 day of rain per year to be self sufficient foodwise ..
   

    -@Saxio

Agricultural land is being supplied with water by various means for irrigation. There is no way to grow all the food needed for national food sufficiency. Irrigating more land will not magically turn that land into agricultural land. Cape Verde is a desert. We get almost no rain. It would be incredibly expensive to attempt to produce food on more and more land especially if it is not arable. Other approaches must be used, such as ecoponics, and other innovations. Livestock are also a source of food, but lack of water an thus feed is a big problem. The sea is a massive source of food...but overfishing is a huge problem

In the end, there is insufficient arable land to make the country self suficient in food. Other food sources are also insuffient. And EU subsidies and concessionary loans are granted for specific purposes which do not include irrigation as that is already being done to the extent possible.

Cheers,

Angelo