Priscilla Mazenotti      Reporter Agência Brasil

Brasilia – The Amazon River is at record flood levels. And there is the worst drought in memory in Northeast Brazil.

In Bahia, some 2.7 million people have been affected by a five-month drought in 242 municipalities that are in a state of emergency. Authorities say 40% of farm produce is threatened.

What is happening in the sertão and agreste areas of the whole Northeast region (states of Bahia, Sergipe, Alagoas, Paraiba, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte and Ceará) that hug Brazil’s Atlantic coastline bulge is nothing less than a disaster.

Milk production is down by over 30%. Beans and corn were not even planted in many municipalities. Where they were planted, the harvest is late as farmers wait for some improvement in the weather. The weather forecast is not for any improvement. Beans and corn are being brought in from Minas Gerais and Paraná.

Fruit production in most of the state of Bahia has been practically wiped out, except for areas around the São Francisco River, where there are irrigation systems.

Emergency measures, besides water trucks (“carros-pipa”), include distribution of basic needs food baskets, seeds, construction of cisterns and pipelines for water distribution, artisan wells (construction and recuperation). The state government has prohibited the “commercial” use of water and restricted its use to human consumption in many areas.

The federal government has authorized the sale of corn stockpiles to be used to supply cooperatives and poultry, swine and cattle producers. 

Two interesting facts about this drought. Ranchers are saying it has caused a cattle diaspora. In reality, it is a generalized livestock diaspora. Herds of cattle, goats, sheep and swine are being sent to market by desperate farmers. They are getting rock bottom prices for their animals. But, they tell Agência Brasil, that is better than letting them die of thirst and hunger in the bone dry sertão. And they know that this devastation of livestock now will have dire consequences in the future animal productive chain.

At the same time, the famous folk festivals of Santo Antonio, São João and São Pedro (also known as “festejos juninos,” that is, celebrations that take place during the month of June), are being cancelled or reduced in size throughout the Northeast as everybody’s priority now is dealing with the drought.

Allen Bennett – translator/editor The News in English

Link - Seca afeta mais de 2,7 milhões de pessoas na Bahia

Link - Seca em cidades baianas pode causar perdas até 40% na agricultura e pecuária, estima entidade