ENVIRONMENT: Brazil’s Arid Northeast to Host Desertification Meet

By Mario Osava Reprint | | Print |

Mario Osava

RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 29 1999 (IPS) - Brazil’s impoverished, arid northeastern region will host a Nov 15-26 international conference on the fight against desertification, a problem threatening nearly one million square kilometres in that area – or close to one- eighth of the national territory.

Representatives of 159 countries will fly to Recife, the capital of the state of Pernambuco, to participate in the third Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Combatting Desertification, which will focus on the situation in Africa, the continent hit hardest by the phenomenon.

But the touchiest part of the discussions will be the question of financing programmes aimed at curbing the growth of deserts in poor developing countries, said Brazilian Vice-President Marco Maciel, who as political leader from Pernambuco has a particular interest in the problem.

Around 20 to 30 billion dollars are needed to fight the phenomenon worldwide, and the scarcity of funds is especially acute in the developing South, he pointed out.

Desertification is a threat in 110 countries representating all of the continents, and in 70 percent of arid land used for agriculture, according to the secretariat of the UN convention.

More than 2,500 participants are expected at the conference in Recife, between representatives of governments, international and inter-governmental bodies, and non-governmental organisations, as well as journalists.

Around 60 parliamentarians from a number of countries will meet parallel to the conference, on Nov 22-23, to discuss legislative actions to ensure effective compliance with the convention.

In Brazil, the greatest risk of degradation of land subjected to frequent, lengthy droughts is concentrated in the northeast, where 980,711 square kms are threatened by the phenomenon of desertification, according to Brazil’s Environment Ministry.

That area, known as the “Drought Polygon”, accounts for nearly one-eighth of national territory, covers parts of nine of Brazil’s 27 states, and is home to 17.8 million of the country’s inhabitants, or 11 percent of the total population.

The phenomenon of desertification in northeastern Brazil, like in Africa, is closely linked to poverty, which acts as both cause and effect of the growing aridity of land. The periodic droughts plaguing the northeast are the main factor underlying the exodus of Brazilians to the large cities in central and southern Brazil.

Agriculture that pays no attention to the environment and moves around in search of less eroded or degraded land, as well as mining, are the main causes of desertification in the northeast, according to the coordinator of the National Plan for Combatting Desertification, Heitor Matallo Junior.

The intense scarcity of rain in the region since last year has aggravated already pressing problems like hunger, infant mortality, unemployment and the rural exodus. An emergency programme providing food and temporary jobs has been launched by the government to ease the situation.

The National Institute of Meteorology forecasts continued drought at least until next May – which would mean two years of practically zero rainfall in extensive areas.

But the drought could last five more years, which would be catastrophic for local residents, according to a study by U.S. researcher Christian Keppenne, sent to Brazilian authorities and covered by the ‘O Estado de Sao Paulo’ newspaper last week.

Basing his forecasts on the regular recurrence of the El Niño weather phenomenon, the heating of the waters of the Pacific ocean, Keppenne predicts rainfall for northeastern Brazil from next January to July, followed by five dry years.

The government, meanwhile, has been pushing to implement a long- standing idea to change the course of one of the country’s biggest rivers, the Sao Francisco, which runs across the southeast part of the arid northeast.

The aim of the project would be to increase the water flow of several smaller rivers farther north, which dry up completely when rainfall is scarce.

But the initiative has run into political resistance from the state of Bahía, which fears losing water needed for irrigation, while it has also faced problems in drumming up the necessary funds.

Desertification is also a threat in small areas at the extreme southern tip of Brazil.