Study site description: Ribeira Seca, Cape Verde

Table of Contents

1. Responsible IP partner
2. General information
3. Bio-physical description
4. Socio-economic description
   1. Population density and structure
   2. Level of education
   3. Level and sources of income
   4. Major livelihood sources
   5. Impacts of land degradation on livelihoods
   6. Major challenges to land resource management
   7. Major drivers of land degradation processes
   8. Other relevant socio-economic indicators
5. Institutional and political setting
6. Relevant end-users / stakeholder groups
7. Past and on-going projects

Impacts of land degradation on livelihoods

Despite the effort made by the government, the highly irregular dry tropical climate of Cape Verde puts the population under a heavy pressure. It can especially be felt during the dry years, when the rain does not fall or is insufficient to produce reasonable yields; the prices increase sharply, especially those of the food products. This affects the more deprived fringes of the population, namely the "mulheres chefe de familha", mono-parental households in which a woman has to provide for their children. The government has a public infrastructure building and maintenance policy that employs these groups of the population that suffer most during drought periods.

Lack of livelihood alternatives has forced poor people, especially women, to extract sand from the coastal areas to sell for construction works. This activity that went on uncontrolled for several years but is now prohibited, has led to degradation of the beaches with the destruction of the natural barriers from seawater and ground water as a consequences.