Drought in the sertão as a natural or social phenomenon: establishing the Inspetoria Federal de Obras Contra as Secas, 1909-1923

Abstract

This paper examines interpretations of the drought problem in Brazil's northeast sertão during the First Republic. It compares analysis of drought as primarily a natural or climatic phenomenon - embraced by civil engineers working for the Inspetoria [Federal] de Obras Contra as Secas (IFOCS) - with analyses emphasizing social and political conditions that made drought a crisis for the sertanejo poor. The latter are evident in the report of doctors Belisário Penna and Artur Neiva describing their expedition through the sertão sponsored by IFOCS in 1912. This comparison allows for consideration of the intersection between natural (geographic, climatic) and social (political, cultural) factors that produced the region's periodic crisis. The analysis is informed by the work of social scientists who highlight the multi-dimensional causes underlying natural disasters in politically marginal communities. Technocrats' faith in the context-independent utility of their expertise lay at the heart of IFOCS's ultimate failure to rescue sertanejos from famine, migration and poverty. Because the drought agency's technical personnel never had the political will or muscle to confront the social organization underlying the sertão's recurrent calamity, their ability to alleviate the human suffering that droughts precipitated was severely limited.

Main features of large‐scale oceanic‐atmospheric circulation related to strongest droughts during rainy season in Brazilian São Francisco River Basin

“…Despite that some studies such as Kousky (1979), Cavalcanti and Table 3. Decadal frequency of the dry patterns that acted in November, December or January from 1951/1952/2010: (a) 1951-1960/1961(b) 1961-1970/1971(c) 1971-1980/1981(d) 1981(e) 1991/2001 Kousky (1982), Hastenrath (2000), Chaves and Cavalcanti (2001) and Hastenrath (2006) found that whether the upper-level convergence (shown in Figure 10(a)), move westward can lead to dry conditions in the NEB, the pattern showed in Figure 10(a) suggests that a weakened jet stream at 20 ∘ S provides a bigger contribution to dry conditions in the SFRB during the NDJ period. The results mentioned above do not take into account changes in the coupling between the dry patterns in time.…”

“…It drains 63 8576 km 2 (about 8% of the Brazil territory), flowing from Serra da Canastra (Minas Gerais) to the Atlantic Ocean (Figure (a)); between the Alagoas and Sergipe states (Agencia Nacional de Aguas et al , ). This basin supplies almost 70% water needs for the population inhabited inside its territory: 120 m 3 s −1 is destinated for irrigation and hydropower production (10 290 MW per year; about 13% Brazilian electric demands) (Buchmann, ; Buckley, ). These indicators reveal that dry conditions in the SFRB could be catastrophic for water demands, particularly during the rainy season when is expected to have water in excess to recharge the aquifers and the storage of water in the reservoirs.…”

Análisis espacial y temporal de las sequías en el nordeste de Brasil

“…Esto explica la escasez o falta total de lluvias que suele observarse durante la estación húmeda de las subregiones norte y sur (estados BA, PI, PB y CE) del NEB, así como la alta incidencia de estos eventos durante el periodo 1990-2000, previamente reportada por UFS & CEPED (2012). La escasez de lluvias causa un complejo encadenamiento de impactos socioeconómicos negativos sobre los sectores agrícola, hidroeléctrico y de abastecimiento hídrico (Livingstone & Assunção, 1989;Buchmann, 1998;Buckley, 2010), aunque la compilación documental realizada por Carvalho (2012) sugiere que tales episodios han disminuido su ocurrencia desde el siglo XVIII en el NEB. Un aspecto relevante de este fenómeno es el hecho de que los episodios más severos pueden simplificarse eficientemente a unos pocos patrones espaciales (Figura 2), que se suceden entre sí en el contexto temporal (Figuras 3 y 4).…”

“…Las sequías en el NEB han causado importantes impactos negativos en los sectores agrícola, hidroeléctrico y de abastecimiento hídrico (Livingstone & Assunção, 1989;Buchmann, 1998;Buckley, 2010). A manera de ejemplo, durante el periodo 1991-2010 afectaron más de 35 x 10 6 personas; en PI y BA se registraron, en promedio, 131,59 y 96,80 eventos secos por habitantes/km 2 , respectivamente (UFS & CEPED, 2012).…”

The Northeast Plays Football, Too: World Cup Soccer and Regional Identity in the Brazilian Northeast

“…The horrific drought of 1877-79 led to the creation of national institutions dedicated to lessening the effects of future droughts. By the 1920s, these institutions referred to the drought zone as the Northeast (Albuquerque Júnior, 2009: 81;Buckley, 2010). In contrast to São Paulo's regional identity based on notions of European ethnic origin, affluence, and cultural superiority, the Northeast became associated with a mixed race population, drought, migration, poverty, and inferiority (Albuquerque Júnior, 1987;Campbell, 2014;Weinstein, 2015).…”