Presence of LVIA in Guinea-Bissau

LVIA has been present in Guinea-Bissausince 1986. At that time, the bishop of Bissau, convinced by the positive experience of the association in Senegal, had requested its cooperation to install wind pumps made by the Thies workshop,thereby starting a “south-south” exchangewhich has contributed to reducing Guinea’s water supply problem. Thus the “Multi-sectoral promotion in the rural environment” project was born, approved and financed by the Foreign Ministry (MAE) for a period of four years, from March 1986.

The headquarters was set up at Bissora, in the Oio region. The planned activities principally involved the water sector,with the installation of wind pumps(more than one hundred today), and the sanitation sector, with action to help the official local structures and basic sanitation programs at the village level.

These two areas of intervention had for aim to compensate the heavy legacy of Portuguese colonial rule: nearly-inexistent infrastructure, absence of local managers and shortage of public services.

The second phase of the project (1990 to 1994) saw the development of a new area of intervention, the agricultural sector, centred on the adequate management of the water surplus and the organization of market-garden production for self-consumption and for sale.

In this context, we have seen the development of technologies which are easily accessible by the local population, thereby contributing to the creation of a pilot market-garden centre and the development of village gardens, with the aim of enhancing local production techniques and if necessary the introduction of minor innovations.

The third phase of the project (1994 to 1996) followed a profound analysis of the previous initiatives, with the aim of studying the feasibility and viability of the new strategies. The results obtained in the different areas of intervention were enhanced and spread; in the agricultural sector in particular, we have seen the rehabilitation of numerous mangrove rice fields.

The 1998 war led to the interruption of the integrated European Union program (water, agriculture, sanitation), to enable all resources to concentrate on the emergency. Four quick emergency programs, financed by Echo, the European Union Humanitarian Aid service, followed in succession, supporting the regional sanitation system (Oio), containing a violent meningitis epidemic and supporting agricultural production(in the Oio region and the neighbouring region of Cacheu) which, somehow did not suffer the repercussions of the war.

Following the end of the crisis in 2000, the integrated development program resumed. Over the past few years, the commitment has increased in the agricultural sector. This recently caught the attention of the FAO, the IFAD and the CILSS (Permanent Interstate Committee For Drought Control in the Sahel), who wanted to involve us in their projects as a partner.

In particular, an annual aid project for farming associationsin the Quinara,Oio andTombali regions concluded in December 2005. This project, financed by IFAD, expected to provide production methods (selected seeds, fertilizer, machines for agri-food transformation, agricultural equipment…) and technical equipment for the rehabilitation of areas used for the cultivation of rice and vegetables (water evacuation pipes, wells, communal warehouses) with the aim of encouraging the increase in local agricultural production.