ABSTRACT
Brazilians have a long history of living with harsh conditions in the Northeast. The people of Northeast Brazil have managed over the years to cope with the conditions, including through the introduction of water infrastructure projects and the advent of institutions responsible for planning the socioeconomic development of the region. The impacts of prolonged droughts are concentrated in the rural poor communities living in semiarid region. This chapter describes the recent advances in drought policy and management in Brazil. It is also important for Brazil to embark upon efforts to develop and institutionalize pillars two and three of the three pillars framework, and to do this by continuing a national drought policy dialogue and building from the strong foundation of the Monitor and drought preparedness plans. This framework consists of monitoring and forecasting/early warning, vulnerability/resilience and impact assessment, and mitigation and response planning and measures.
