A Water and Sanitation Master Plan and a Plan for Rural Hydraulics has been set up in Guinea-Bissau and all government action related to the country’s freshwater resources is taken through the General Directorate of Natural Resources.
Global climate change, pollution and water shortages due to decreasing rainfall are among the major factors having a negative impact on the availability and quality of fresh water resources. In this context, the government of Guinea-Bissau's main objective is to promote water conservation, maintain the quality of existing freshwater resources, and ensure universal coverage. The government has established cooperation links through the General Directorate of Natural Resources with several international organizations and developed countries to study the possibility of providing water coverage to the entire population by drilling cartesian wells, particularly in the northern and eastern parts of the country where the population is most affected by water shortages during the dry season. In terms of water resources, aquifers with dwindling water supplies are becoming more common and are more easily penetrated by salt water in coastal zones. Deeper ground waters and dried-up lakes are becoming more common in Guinea-Bissau, while the agrarian sector and its production of rice, the populations’ main staple food, has markedly decreased. This is due to salinity and the acidification of hydromorphous soils, destruction of protective dykes, flooding of rice fields, abandonment of degraded land and erosion. Access to drinking water is still limited for a large percentage of the population, while the majority of those with access to drinking water use public faucets, fountains, protected wells or cisterns for their drinking water supply.
Thematic Data Source:
National Adaptation Programme of Action on Climate Change 2008 (UNFCCC)
Guinea-Bissau- Country Profile Implementation of Agenda 21: Review of Progress made since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, 1992
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