Segurança alimentar, mudanças climáticas e proteção social no semiárido brasileiro (Cariri, Ceará)

Climate change and variability are among the main threats to socio-ecological sustainability in many semi-arid regions of the world and are of special concern to resourcepoor family farmers. In the Brazilian semi-arid, the predicted climate events in addition to the high levels of social vulnerability may adversely affect subsistence crops and cultivated areas with serious consequences for rural food security and health. In 2012 a long and severe drought left 174 (of 184) municipalities in the northeastern state of Ceará, Brazil, in a situation of emergency. Using this situation to analyze the impacts of current climate variability and as a proxy for future impacts, household food security, agricultural production characteristics, and participation in social protection programs in the Cariri region were investigated. Additionally, the relationship between the areas of social protection, food security and climate change adaptation on policies and programs were also explored in face of the current and future challenges for the semi-arid region. The results suggest that many on-farm productive challenges could be more effectively addressed by better coordination and integration between social and rural development policies, and programs to disseminate knowledge, technical assistance and strategies related to improved farm resilience to climate variability. On an analysis with a set of selected data, the variables livestock ownership, presence of underage dependents, and participation in government pension schemes, cashtransfers, and some emergency programs were associated with household food security. Furthermore, interview with institutional actors provided evidence that the 2012 drought impacted local production and the food-based safety net program PAA. In a parallel documental analysis, the limited integration between the fields of climate change and food security were highlighted, which appears to be related to the segmented government structure and lack of proper communication and interaction between responsible government sectors. As a general conclusion, the use of strategies and improvements related to local onfarm practices and also to more general policy initiatives at the regional and federal level are proposed. Those approaches include the diversification of on-farm activities and sustainable water and productive strategies adapted to drought-prone agro-systems that may contribute to the decrease in social vulnerability and food insecurity in semi-arid regions. Additionally, in relation to the PAA, institutional actors suggested improvements in institutional capacity, access to advanced payment and to better technical assistance, which are non-regret strategies that can tackle both the current issues and prepare food procurement programs for future climatic scenarios. In particular to the interaction between the discussed areas, the general infancy on the understanding of climate change and the linkages with poverty, development and food insecurity might also have an influence on the limited interaction on the fields of climate change adaptation and food security. As demonstrated herein, the interaction between the fields of climate change and food security is not straightforward and deserves a greater attention from both policy and academic practitioners.