Luanda – Cafu Canal, a water abstraction and transfer system from the Cunene River to several villages, put an end to the drought that affects central and southern regions of Angola.
The undertaking was unveiled in April this year by the President of Republic João Lourenço.
The 160 km long project comprises 30 chimpacas (reservoirs for watering cattle), with a capacity of 30 million liters each.
The construction of the Canal, one of the Executive’s top priorities in the last five years in the office, aimed to put an end to the suffering of the populations in the country’s southern region, who for years experienced food and water deprivation.
Launched on November 15, 2019, the works, which lasted 74 months, cost more than 5 billion dollars, covering the provinces of Cunene, Namibe and Huíla.
The project was extended by another five kilometers and one chimpaca (reservoir) in the town of Okanguiti, Ndombondola.
But the value of contract did not change, which totals an extension of 165 kilometers of channels and 31 chimpacas.
Currently, with the Cafu Canal there is irrigation of the fields, water for the cattle and for the populations that are starting to return to their localities.
The Cafu Canal is the only structured solution found to combat drought over the 47 years of independence.
The severe drought caused hundreds of fatalities in the most critical areas of the country and hundreds of families without food and forced to undergo transhumance.
The drought also forced thousands of children to abandon schools and many others suffered from acute malnutrition and more than a million people in central and southern Angola were in need of emergency of the food aid.
The cry for help brought together the society, which, motivated by the ministerial department, mobilised and started collecting used clothes and food products to support the victims of the drought in southern Angola.
