Millions Threatened by Drought in Brazil

June 07, 2012 from Al Jazeera English

Just two weeks ahead of the Earth Summit in Rio, the UN issued a disturbing report on the environment. One of the top priorities that will be discussed at the summit is access to water. Brazil's northeast region is going through its worst drought in more than 40 years. Brazilians planted their crops but they simply will not grow. Nine hundred towns in the northeast part of the country have declared states of emergency. The government has released more than $3 billion to the region, but people say that their monthly government stipends are not enough. As rain is not expected until October or November, a civil defense official says the the federal government will have to think of a new strategy to save the livelihoods of millions who rely on agriculture to survive. Al Jazeera's Gabriel Elizondo reports from Picos, Brazil.

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Northeast Region, Brazil

The Northeast Region of Brazil is composed of the following states: Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe and Bahia, and it represents 18.26% of the Brazilian territory. The Northeast Region has a population of 53.6 million people, ... Explore this topic

Water resources management in Brazil

Water resources management is a key element of Brazil’s strategy to promote sustainable growth and a more equitable and inclusive society. Brazil’s achievements over the past 70 years have been closely linked to the development of hydraulic infrastructure for hydroelectric pow... Explore this topic

Brazil

Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and the Latin America region. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population, with over 193 million people. It is the largest Lusophone coun... Explore this topic

Drought

Drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply whether surface or underground water. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem... Explore this topic

Federal government of Brazil

The federal government of Brazil, legally known as Union, is the national central government of the Federative Republic of Brazil established by the Federal Constitution to share sovereignty over the national territory with the other federating units – the States, the Federal ... Explore this topic

State of emergency

A state of emergency is a governmental declaration which usually suspends a few normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviors, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can a... Explore this topic

Picos

Picos (translates to Peaks in English) is a municipality of the state of Piaui, Brazil, and is the state's third largest city. It is located in the south-central region of Piauí and is the most economically developed city in the region. The city's financial prosperity, combine... Explore this topic

Earth Summit

The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, also known as the Rio Summit, Rio Conference, and Earth Summit, was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 June to 14 June 1992. In 2012, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Develop... Explore this topic

United Nations

The United Nations is the world's largest, foremost, and most prominent international organization. The stated aims of the United Nations include promoting and facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human r... Explore this topic

Civil defense

Civil defense, or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state from military attack. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, or emergency evacuation, and recovery. Programmes of this sort were initially... Explore this topic

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Northeast Region, Brazil

Water resources management in Brazil

Brazil

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