Opinion – Michael França: Water scarcity can have effects on an individual’s life before he is born

It is common knowledge that in many poor and developing countries there is a significant contingent of people who face both the challenges of poverty and of surviving prolonged periods of drought.

However, there is an aggravating factor that should be better understood and debated. The adverse effects of droughts tend to worsen in a scenario marked by global warming. This makes well-targeted State interventions increasingly necessary to seek to mitigate their impacts.

In the absence of effective public policies, the likely higher incidence of extreme climate shocks in the coming years will have profound negative consequences for the lives of the vulnerable population and for the perpetuation of the cycle of poverty.

In the Brazilian case, the semiarid region is usually one of the portraits of our misery. Part of the population does not have adequate access to water supply. Every day, many have to travel long distances to ensure the minimum supply to meet their basic needs.

This requires a considerable amount of effort that could be better spent on productive activities and thus leverage local development. Furthermore, drought and the desertification process affect agricultural production, causing a significant impact on food security.

Water scarcity can also have several effects on an individual’s life even before he or she is born. Researchers Rudi Rocha and Rodrigo Soares find evidence suggesting that droughts are correlated with increased infant mortality, lower birth weight and lower gestation period (“Water scarcity and birth outcomes in the Brazilian semiarid”, 2014).

In this context, the federal government has implemented some public policies in recent decades with the aim of seeking to mitigate this situation. Among these initiatives, thousands of cisterns, which represent one of the main ways for the population of the semiarid region to store water, were built.

In a study whose objective was precisely to assess the impacts of this public policy, researchers found that access to cisterns in early pregnancy had a positive effect on the weight of the child at birth (“Climate adaptation policies and infant health: evidence from a water policy in Brazil”, 2021).

However, as reported by the press in recent weeks, the federal government has cut resources for this intervention. The Cistern Program reached its peak in 2014 and then dropped to the lowest number in history, in 2021. If there is no other policy with a similar purpose and better effectiveness, this could systematically affect the capacity of the sertanejo to resist climatic shocks.

Currently, the Brazilian Northeast is experiencing a severe drought. In several states in the region, the dams are almost empty and the socioeconomic situation is increasingly arid. The city of Senador Elói de Souza declared a state of public calamity due to the drought.

According to a report by Deojem Emanuel Gomes da Silva, 57, in a report by Renata Moura in this Folha, even the lizards that used to be part of the poorest population’s diet in times of scarcity migrated in search of water.

In this context, it is difficult to see the situation of our northeastern compatriots and not remember two excerpts from the book “Vidas Secas” by Graciliano Ramos:

“He knew perfectly well that this was how it was, he was used to all the violence, all the injustices. And to acquaintances who slept on the log and supported the ox’s liana, he offered consolations: —Be patient. Beating by the government is not undone.”

“She cried, but she was invisible and no one noticed her crying.” *

The text is a tribute to the song “Súplica Cearense”, by Luiz Gonzaga.