Brazil: lessons in resilience from the world’s most populated dryland

How water harvesting and land restoration are bringing hope to the arid heart of the country.

A little-known fact is that  northeastern Brazil is home to the most populated dryland on the planet, made up of two biomes: the Cerrado, a regional water tower at the frontlines of agroindustrial expansion, and Caatinga, which is exclusive to the country and is inhabited by one in seven Brazilians. 

The Caatinga is naturally dry, but the combination of overgrazing, deforestation, and climate change are creating new challenges for traditional communities living off the land, increasing the risk of food insecurity, poverty, and migration. 

And the risks span beyond the Caatinga: around 38 million Brazilians are vulnerable to the impacts of desertification and drought, while arid lands are emerging for the first time and semiarid lands are projected to expand across much of the country in the coming years.

The good news is that, even in the arid heart of Brazil, rural communities like Malhada da Areia, Bahia, are showing it is possible to halt and reverse land degradation and to prepare for, and adapt to, drought. That is, provided the right approaches and investments are in place.

At the heart of their resilience are low-tech and nature-based solutions. For example, water harvesting roofs, deep excavation water storage, and water tanks, as well as sustainable land management practices to produce food, while reviving soils and restoring native vegetation. 

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In Malhada da Areia, in the Brazilian region of Caatinga, community members show one of the water storage solutions at the center of their drought resilience.

In June, a delegation led by the Minister of Environment of Brazil, Marina Silva, and the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Ibrahim Thiaw, visited Malhada da Areia and the nearby cities of Juazeiro and Petrolina as the country is boosting its efforts to tackle drought. 

For instance, by investing in 130.000 water tanks in 2023-2024; creating a network of more than 180 scientists specialized in land degradation and drought; and launching a national campaign to build awareness on these matters.

Brazil, which now chairs the G20, is the latest country to join the International Drought Resilience Alliance (IDRA), the global coalition built on the notion that drought is a risk, but it needn’t be a disaster.

“Brazil’s accession to IDRA demonstrates the government’s determination to combat drought and desertification, promote food and water security, and tackle inequalities,” said Minister Silva. “Successes here [in the Caatinga] demonstrate that, with the right strategies and collaborations, we can fight land degradation and build resilience to climate change.”

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The Executive Secretary of UNCCD, Ibrahim Thiaw, and the Minister of Environment of Brazil, Marina Silva, during a visit to the Caatinga with focus on drought resilience.

Exportable solutions

In Malhada da Areia, community members proudly showed visitors around, noting how they have transformed a land historically associated with famine and migration into a land of hope.

“I am inspired by the innovative spirit of the communities in Caatinga,” said Thiaw during the visit to the area, where he noted that water capture, storage and reuse is essential to building resilience in arid environments. “These efforts in land restoration and sustainable water management are not just local solutions, but models for the world.”

So far, the water tanks initiative has already reached 230,000 families as part of broader social packages, significantly reducing child mortality, increasing school attendance, improving water security, and enabling more varied and nutritious diets, thanks to the proximity of well-watered kitchen gardens.

For the National Secretary for Food and Nutritional Security Lilian dos Santos Rahal the program goes beyond access to water: “It is a comprehensive approach to social development that integrates water security with food production and economic inclusion.” 

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The traditional community of Malhada da Areia, who lives off the land, explain the role of land use planning in restoring their lands and building resilience to drought.

From barren to bountiful

Locals are also engaged in a long-term initiative to restore degraded lands and the ecosystems they support, known as ‘Recaatingamento.’ The initiative is supported by the Regional Institute for Appropriate Small-Scale Farming (IRPAA), a civil society organization that has been instrumental in helping dozens of communities coexist with drought across the state of Bahia in the past three decades.

Malhada da Areia is a traditional ‘fundo de pasto’ (‘back pasture’) community, where a group of families share and collectively manage an area of native vegetation as pasture for goats and to gather wild fruits and leaves. To restore a once productive land, they have fenced off 50 of the 2,000 communal hectares so it can recover out of the reach of goats. 

Inside the protected area, people grow fruits and produce honey as alternative sources income, and jaguars and some plant species are making a comeback. To feed the goats, farmers grow fodder with reused water, bringing sustainable land and water management practices full circle.

In the dryest months, aroeira trees drop their leaves to preserve moisture, standing like pale, denuded sentinels; hence the name Caatinga, meaning ‘white forest’ in Tupi language. Like Malhada da Areia, the aroeira is a testament to the ability of people and nature to thrive —if only given a chance — in the world’s drylands.

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‘Restoring the Caatinga is necessary! The Caatinga is worth more standing than deforested,’ reads a sign of a landscape restoration initiative based on sustainable land management.