Project Description
Planalto Norte is located in Porto Novo municipality, roughly 40 km from the main City. The population is about 685 inhabitants, distributed in 171 families (113 lead by men and 58 by women). It is a dispersed locality, composed of several small villages, namely Chã de Feijoal, Bolona, Chã de Cruz, Chã de Manuelinho, Água das Patas, Morrinho de Égua, Chã Queimado, Chã Dura, Aldeia de Norte and Pascoal Alves.
The population of Planalto Norte lives mainly on the livestock and rainfed agriculture, which is rare in this region.
The communities that make up the Planalto are deprived of access to electricity. And because they are dispersed and very far from existing energy networks, they have not been contemplated in rural electrification projects.
Lack of water in these communities is striking with greater incidence in the dry years. Residents are required to walk many kilometers a day to get some water that is sometimes not enough for domestic consumption or for their animals.
In order to minimize the lack of water in these communities, the municipally has been using the city's auto-water tanks to transport water to these communities, which is very expensive. As an example, in the first six months of 2016, about 24 m3 of water were transported to supply the population, a cost of approximately $3,000 USD, of which only $500 were paid by the locals through a social tariff. The difference between the actual cost and the tariff paid by the communities is borne by the entities responsible, namely by the Porto Novo Municipal Council and by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.
The proposed solution for water access for these communities is to use renewable energy solutions to pump water from the Carvoeirinho spring (located in 1 km deep valley) to the top of the plateau, and from there channel water by gravity to all the local communities. A series of 4 to 5 pumping stations and water tanks are to be constructed.

Project Objective
To promote the sustainable development of the communities of Planalto Norte through access to safe water for human consumption, agriculture and livestock and the use of clean technologies that contribute to the mitigation of climate change and to the creation of sustainable employment and settlement mechanisms.

Proposed activities
Activity 1. Installation of photovoltaic system (13.2 Kwp) to pumping and water storage and distribution
Activity 2. Water Efficiency Awareness Campaign
Activity 3. Actions to improve livestock and agricultural production
Activity 4. Training actions on the processing of livestock and agricultural products and management of production costs
Activity 5. Installation of a Community Support Center
Activity 6. Actions to disseminate the project nationally and internationally.