Drought in Brazil: Proactive Management and Policy. De Nys, E., Engle, N. L., & Magalhaes, A. R. (eds). 2016, 230pp. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. ISBN: 9781498765664

Abstract

The central value in this publication is the focus it provides on just how hard it can be for governments to alter key policy directions, even where it is clear that reform is needed. Governments are often presented with very hard policy choices, and often they are found wanting. But here a crisis galvanized action, and Ministers and civil servants took the opportunity offered. Here, it appears the federal and state governments have responded strongly to the drought related problems confronting Brazil. We can only hope that the very positive reform process can be sustained long enough to achieve ongoing positive outcomes. As the subtitle suggests, this book describes recent efforts in Brazil to move management of drought away from its historical crisis management framework towards a risk based, more proactive framework. Many of its 35 editors and authors are or were Brazilian politicians and senior civil servants, and officers of the World Bank. A clear message from the early chapters of this book is that drought is a part of life in Brazil: historically, Brazil sought to manage these droughts as and when they unfolded, adapting the …