Cape Verde belongs to the zone of countries with a dry subtropical climate, reaching humidity levels below 10%. It is characterized by a short rain season, from July to October, with rainfalls that are torrential at times and poorly distributed in space and time.

The annual average rainfall, 225 mm, has been decreasing since the sixties of last century, with negative consequences on the conditions of agricultural exploration and water supply. About 20% of water from precipitation is lost through surface runoff, 13% infiltrates to recharge the aquifers and most of it is lost through evaporation.

Most soils are shallow and poor in organic matter. Only 10% of the emersed land is potentially arable; of these, 95% are occupied with rainfed agriculture and the remaining 5% with irrigated agriculture.

Cape Verde is an ecologically fragile country with poor natural resources. The archipelago does not possess mineral resources that can contribute for development of industrial activities. The agro-ecological conditions condition agriculture, preventing adequate coverage of the basic food needs of the population.

Fisheries are one of the few natural resource based economic activities that provide quality export products, although in a small scale. International tourism, in particular ecotourism, is a second economic activity based on the great landscape diversity of the islands, islets and territorial sea.

Cape Verde is vulnerable to natural and anthropic phenomena, particularly droughts. The type of agriculture that is practiced has consequent results in the alteration of microclimates, desertification and torrential rainfalls. The fact that the country has volcanic origin and an active volcano, and is dominated by mountain ecosystems, increases its vulnerability to a great extent. The cyclical drought periods, alternated with floods, have been the main causes of economic losses, environmental degradation and socio-economic problems.

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