Guinea-Bissau is a small nation with a tropic climate and abundant natural resources located on the coast of West Africa. Its population of approximately 1.2 million are a complex mix of ethnic groups that mostly make their living from agriculture and trading the goods they produce.

Poverty is high as 64.7% of the population live on less than two dollars a day. [i]

Malnutrition and undernutrition cause serious problems, especially for young children and their mothers.

The country was one of Portugal’s colonies which only gained its independence in 1974 after 11 years of war against Portugal. What the Portuguese left behind was an underdeveloped and war-ravaged colonial economy with low agricultural activity, an almost non-existent industrial sector, unemployment, declining GDP and a negative balance of trade.[ii]

Most of the time after independence, the Party for Independence in Guinea-Bissau and Cabo Verde (PAIGC) has been in power, but there have been several coups and attempted coups and a civil war from 1998-99 that among other things caused massive internal displacement, damage to the physical infrastructure and a loss food security. [iii]

References in this text

[i] Republic of Guinea-Bissau. 2006. National Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (NPRSD). P.8

[ii] Mendy, P. K. 1996. “The emergence of political pluralism in Guinea-Bissau” in Koudawo, F. & Mendy, P. K. (eds.) Pluralisme polítique en Guinée-Bissau. Une transition en cours. Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisa, Bissau: 13-66

[iii] Kovsted, J. & Tarp, F. 1999. Working Papers No. 168: Guinea-Bissau. War, Reconstruction and Reform. The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research, Helsinki

More information on Guinea-Bissau

Latest news from IRIN: http://www.irinnews.org/Africa-Country.aspx?Country=GW

Boubacar-Sid, B. et al. (eds.) World Bank Working Paper No. 88: Conflict, Livelihoods, and Poverty in Guinea-Bissau. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank, Washington D.C.

Cabral, Amilcar. 1979. Unity and Struggle; Speeches and Writings. Monthly Review Press. New York

IPAD. 2005. Indicative Cooperation Programme Portugal: Guinea-Bissau [2005-2007] Lisbon

UNDP 2006. Executive Summary of Rapport national sur le développement humain en Guinée-Bissau 2006: reformer les politiques pour attenindre les objectifs du millénaire pour le développement en Guinée-Bissau. PNUD Guineé-Bissau.