Famine in Cape Verde

The archipelago of Cape Verde were struck by a series of famines that began in 1747 and ended in around the 1950s., it caused a part of the population to emigrate

The first famine in Cape Verde started in 1747 as deforestation and overgrazing in parts of the islands caused the grounds to become dry with desertification, drought problems occurred. Another famine strucked in 1774 which had 20,000 people starved, the hardest were the islands of Fogo and Brava. During that time, the population of Fogo dropped from 5,700 to 4,200. Also every livestock on the island of Fogo including cows, sheeps and goats disappeared.

In the mid-1820s, Mindelo on the island of São Vicente suffered a drought and famine and lost a part of the population.

Another famine strucked from 1831 to 1833 which attempted to moved to colonial capital from Praia to Picos. The Portuguese sent almost no relief aids.

One of the later famines of the 1840s depopulated the whole island of Santa Luzia.

Another famine occurred in 1855 and affected Santiago and some other islands, as a result, the governor temporarily moved the residence from Praia (then Porto Praya) to Picos, Praia remained colonial capital

At the end of the 19th century, around 100,000 people starved.

On the island of São Vicente, Mindelo hunger started rising from April 1891, it was rarely hit by the famine until 1900, an increase of food shortage began on that island which later resulted to a strike. The economy of São Vicente and Mindelo was declining as fewer ships stopped at the port and fewer telegraph signals.

As the United States closed immigration in the early 1920s, the famine situation got worse and after the Great Depression struck even in Cape Verde, it affected every island in Cape Verde. First in Mindelo, strikes were organized over food shortages and later rioted on June 7, 1934 after people demanded justice, later emigration occurred in Mindelo then in other islands.

One of the last famines occurred, first between 1941 and 1942 and then between 1946 and 1949 and caused a part of the population to move to another colony, São Tomé and Príncipe, one of the hard hit was the island of São Nicolau, Boa Vista, Maio, Santiago including Ribeira da Barca, Mindelo on São Vicente, Santo Antão, Fogo and Brava, the least affected was Sal, it had a small population in the 1940s, as the airport opened, a part of the population moved there and had a water and food supplies. This was one of the factors of the rise of support for Cape Verdean independence. Later hungers were minimal in later years and caused the population to immigrate to Senegal and western Europe including France. Hunger problems ended in 1968 as some food aid by families abroad were brought to Cape Verde. The remains of hunger had disappeared entirely after Cape Verde became independent in 1975. Though emigration continued in smaller numbers after independence for some years, not related to famine.

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