In the middle of the Amazon, a French town lacks water and food due to climate change

Maripasoula, Amazonian Park of Guyana (973) – From the windows of the small propeller plane which flies between the coast and the town of Maripasoula, in the south of Guyana, a carpet in shades of green stretches as far as the eye can see. It takes an hour's flight to finally see the first homes of this town integrated into the vast Amazonian Park, located in the hollow of a meander of the Maroni River. The stretch of water marks the border with Suriname and serves as a route to the Atlantic Ocean – more than 300 kilometers downstream. “Normally, here, we always see canoes unloading goods”deplores Jonathan Abienso, owner of a river freight company in this urban enclave surrounded by the Amazon.

While surveying the “gradient” of Maripasoula – a term which here designates a pier – the entrepreneur explains that after 18 months of water deficit, while the year 2024 promises to be one of the hottest ever recorded by Météo France, this vital artery is only a shadow of itself. The water level is so low that many rock piles now block the passage of people and goods. At certain levels, it would almost be possible to cross the 500 meters that separate the two countries on foot. He continues:

“For two weeks, no one has risked going up the river, which has become too dangerous. »

The intensity of this drought is linked to the double influence of El Niño, a natural and cyclical ocean phenomenon which results in warming of the waters of the Pacificand climate change, one of the consequences of which in Guyana is the reduction in rainfall.

In Maripasoula, only the airfield and its single laterite runway – this red and arid rock – still connect the 10,000 inhabitants to the rest of the world.

Soaring prices

“Life has always been complicated and expensive, but this is much worse,” notes Charles Aloïke. Riding his filong, these motorcycles imported from Asia from Suriname, the main means of transport in the dusty streets of Maripasoula, he ensures that the inhabitants of Maripasoula did not wait for climate change to feel the weight of isolation.

The commune, as large as New Caledonia, has experienced strong development following the discovery of new gold deposits in the 1990s which attracted numerous gold prospectors, who came to exploit the veins more or less legally. But infrastructure has not kept up with this demographic boom. In 2023, the liquidation of the airline in the middle of a drought – already – had put the city under lockdown for several months, causing the price of food to jump, which has since continued to increase. Charles Aloïke, the biker, is worried:

“Petrol is four euros per liter. It's rising every day, I don't know how we're going to do it. »

The year before, it was frequent power cuts linked to low capacity and network isolation which were strongly denounced by the population.

Like most residents, Rosiane Agésilas, a nurse, has gotten into the habit of going shopping with the “Chinese” in Albina 2. These businesses located on the Surinamese coast form the backbone of the entire informal economy in the region. but also offer inexpensive duty-free goods. These supermarkets on stilts, where you pay in euros or by the gram of gold, are much busier than French grocery stores. But they too have resigned themselves to purchasing planes and increasing their prices:

“There is no longer a noticeable difference between prices. Even going across the street, my shopping basket went from 80 to 150 euros per week. It's impossible to follow. »

The caregiver is involved in the Apachi collective which, since 2023, has been denouncing the deadly consequences of isolation. “We make sacrifices and we can no longer eat properly. This will pose public health problems. »Bottles of water, but also eggs, rice and gas are starting to run out, she warns.

Rationing

The surge in prices weighs even more severely on migrants from Guyana, Haiti or Brazil – attracted by the prospect of work on French soil. “ I earn 200 euros per month for part time and I have three children », explains Maria (1). The Guyanese woman works as a saleswoman in one of the center's shops:

“As I don’t have the papers, I can’t get help. If my husband didn't help me, I wouldn't be able to feed myself. »

The economy as a whole, already underdeveloped, is completely impacted. Businesses are now suffering the cost of living and transport, added to the shortage of food. This is the case of the only bakery in the town. “ I can't find any flour at all. I have reduced my bread production, but I may soon have to close,” says Dewane Roger, the boss.

Decline in public services

The consequences of the drought are all the more visible in the numerous “kampus”, hamlets located several hours by canoe from Maripasoula. Access to services, already very precarious due to distances, is even more difficult.

Several primary schools have also had to close: school transport by canoe being impossible, many students must now follow middle school lessons remotely, when the internet connection allows it. In the Antecume Pata kampu, the dispensary is a kind of pharmacy and medical office, capable of providing emergency first aid. This center providing free access to care for nearly a thousand people has been forced to reduce the frequency of hours. From a weekly visit, the doctor now comes for a few hours every two weeksthanks to a helicopter chartered from Cayenne.

In several of these hamlets, drinking water is drawn from aquifers whose level depends on that of the Maroni. Several boreholes are completely dry. Others only allow water to be drawn for a few hours a day, often muddy and unfit for consumption. Throughout Guyana, several thousand people are affected and, although emergency solutions have been deployed such as the sending of atmospheric fountains – generators producing water from the humidity present in the air – it is very insufficient, according to the residents concerned.

Airlift

Faced with the crisis, the prefecture launched an Orsec Water plan on October 29. The emergency system translates in particular into the establishment of an airlift carried out by the army to supply drinking water, food, gasoline or medicine Maripasoula and the other isolated communes of Guyana – in all, nearly 40,000 people. The local authority of Guyana (CTG), for its part, announced doubling the air freight capacities of the private company, which provides flights to the interior of the territory in order to increase, there too, the supply capacities.

If the price of this subsidized air freight has been set below the average prices of river transport, the prices remain, for the moment, approximately the same. Most Maripasoulians continue to source their supplies from Suriname. “Neither the town hall, nor the community, nor the State involved us in the discussions,” laments Patrick Valiès, president of the Maripasoula traders’ association. Some also say they are not aware of how state systems work or how to benefit from this aid:

“We have been asking for the creation of stocks for months. We already had drought last year. All this could have been better anticipated collectively. »

The prefecture, for its part, explains having organized, with the CTGmeetings to discuss the needs of businesses. The administration ensures that it is working on the establishment of a price control systemwithin the framework of which repressive controls are carried out – in case local traders are tempted to benefit from this exceptional charter without lowering their prices.

Sentiment d’abandon

Rather than eternal emergency measures, Maripasoulians wish – often with little hope – the construction of a “river road” to connect them to the coast. This titanic project, which has been shaking up local politics for 20 years, has been started. But there are still 150 kilometers of dense forest to develop, to date without funding.

In 2022, Emmanuel Macron made it a campaign promise, before finally announcing the remodeling of the road into an “improved track” – without further details – during his visit to Guyana in March.

Following this change of heart, the army was entrusted with carrying out a study on the feasibility of such a route. The document, completed months ago, was handed over to the CTG and to the government, but has still not been made public. “The road is the only solution to opening up”, wants to believe Rosiane Agésilas:

“It would be the start of a new era and a promise to develop Maripasoula. »

It could also be one of the solutions to prevent future droughts: according to projections from the GuyaClimat scientific report, published in 2022, the territory should experience warming of around 2.5 to 4.5 degrees and a reduction in precipitation of 15% to 25% by 2100.