By Daniele Cesano
Bacia do Jacuipe is a small county in the semiarid Sertão region in Brazil. Characterized by low precipitation and high deforestation rates, the region has suffered the impacts of climate change, in particular increased temperatures and drought. Already facing socioeconomic challenges, the incomes and livelihood of farmer families are at risk of further decline.
Since the year 2006, the coalition of agricultural cooperatives "Adapta Sertão" has been researching and developing climate smart production systems to make small-scale family farmers more resilient to climate change. The focus has been on finding practical technical standards to improve access to water, upgrade farming technologies, and process plants and markets for agricultural products. Through ongoing field-testing and experimentations, a training manual has been developed, Smart and Sustainable Agro-Climate Model (MAIS for its Portuguese acronym), with the concepts and principles for adapting agriculture to climate change.