The cyclical problems of floods and severe drought in the Southern Region of Angola have affected thousands of families, but within a short time horizon they may come to an end with the completion phase of the Program to Combat the Effects of Drought in Southern Angola (PCESSA )
The Government of Angola has been developing a specific program of structuring actions that consists of the construction of channels and transfers between basins, as well as the construction of dams with reservoirs to accumulate rainwater, including the rehabilitation of dozens of dams in the provinces. from Cunene, Namibe and Huíla.
According to a note that reached the editorial staff of the newspaper OPAÍS, this program, with a budget of 4.5 billion USD, began in the province of Cunene, with the completion of the CAFU Canal, with water capture from the Cunene River and its distributed over 165 km of open canals, with a beneficial potential for thousands of people and animals, in addition to irrigating the soil along its route.
To put an end to the dilemma that essentially affects thousands of families in the provinces of Cunene, Huila and Namibe, with its negative impacts, the Angolan Executive, through the Ministry of Energy and Water, devised and launched the year 2022 with operation of the first Flow Transfer System (CAFU), in the province of Cunene, within the scope of this program to Combat the Effects of Drought in Southern Angola, completed over 8 years, with extension to the provinces of Huíla and Namibe.
So far, says the note signed by the Information Technologies, Institutional Communication and Press office of the Ministry of Energy and Water, around 189 million dollars have already been invested out of a total of 759 million foreseen in this first phase being implemented in the province of Cunene. “The program includes the construction of dams and water supply systems, actions in good progress in the municipalities of Cuvelai, Cuanhama, Cahama and Curoca, all in the southernmost province of the country, Cunene, which when completed will impact more than 380 thousand people”, it reads.
The dams of these last mentioned programs are expected to be definitively completed by November 2024, and the rainy season was not chosen by mere chance, as they intend to take advantage of rainfall to begin the process of filling the dam reservoirs, making it possible to the accumulation of water and consequent immediate benefit to the surrounding population Expected benefits of the program,
The main objective of the program is to ensure access to water, both for consumption, improving the health conditions and quality of life of the population, and for agricultural use. The note explains that, once the works are completed and the reservoirs are full, the project is expected to bring food security in the dry months that history records as being the most critical. With the transformation and change in the local reality, families will be able to dedicate themselves to agriculture throughout the year, without having to emigrate to ensure survival, as is the practice for those communities.
With assured means of production and subsistence, it is expected that high environmental impacts will be mitigated, such as, for example, reducing charcoal production to a minimum, the population’s means of survival. “It is estimated that around 600 thousand families will benefit through the promotion of family farming. It is also expected that, with the existence of sufficient water, there will be a major paradigm shift in the region, which will become attractive for the development of large-scale production agricultural enterprises, with the generation of approximately 9,500 direct jobs” , emphasizes.
Livestock is part of the local culture and is prominent in national production, with the province of Cunene responsible for approximately 30% of the country’s production. Currently, around 2.5 million head of cattle suffer from poor pasture quality, lack of rainfall, among other harms. All this economic growth, says the note, aims in the future to expand public services aimed at education and health, in addition to the emergence of other commercial infrastructures, industrial facilities and tourist activities.
“While the broad program is being implemented, even before the planned infrastructures are fully operational, other collective side effects are already visible. The works to implement the gigantic structures will generate around four thousand and 500 direct jobs that will mainly benefit the local workforce”, he concludes.