Cape Verde has drafted its National Action Plan for implementation and management of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). The development of agriculture and thus the use of pesticides must integrate POPs prevention. In fact the use of POPs in a fragile environment like Cape Verde may have irreversible effects on soil, ground and surface water, sea and marine species contamination. This can cause serious negative impacts on human health from contamination of vegetables for example, and therefore implicate derailed economic development.

This project aims to respond to the stated challenges and will contribute to the dissemination process of the Stockholm Convention on POPs ratified by the government of Cape Verde in 2006, as well as the National Action Plan recently drafted and approved.

Key geographical sites will be on the Islands of Santo Antão, Santiago, Fogo and São Nicolau. Initiatives will focus on important information to farmers, such as distributing evidence of consequences and dangers of POPs on human health, in different media formats and accessible language.