Presentation made by the Ministry of Social Development and Fight against Hunger, during International Seminar on Social Policies held on 27-30 August 2012 in Brasilia.

1. Cisterns Program
National Secretariat of Food and Nutrition Security

2. Water and Food Security
- Water, considered as food, can be found among the
fundamental rights of Brazilians – Art. 6 of the Constitution
(Constitutional Amendment No. 64/2010).
- Access to water as a component of food security (Art. 4,
Section I of the Organic Law on Food and Nutrition Security).
- Universal access to quality and sufficient water for both
human intake and food production can be found in the
National Policy on Food and Nutrition Security (Art. 3, Section
VI of Decree No. 7.272/2010).

4. THE BRAZILIAN SEMI-ARID REGION
• 969 thousand km² – (20.3%
of the national territory)
• Highly inhabited semi-arid
region: 22 million people.
- 1,134 municipalities in 9
States.
- 40% of the population from
extremely poor rural areas
(IBGE 2010).

5. CISTERNS PROGRAM
• PURPOSE: ensure that low-income rural population
from the semi-arid region have access to drinking
water, through the storage of rainwater in tanks
(cisterns).
• Families with no access to water supply – randomly
provided.

6. CISTERNS – SOCIAL TECHNOLOGY
.
TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO WATER
•Simple and efficient rainwater capture
structure.
•Easy-to-use equipment, family use, low cost
(BRL 2,000.00), simple maintenance, high
durability.
• Storage Tank: 16,000 liter of rainwater for
domestic use (drinking, cooking, personal
hygiene).

7. BENEFITS FOR THE MOST
VULNERABLE POPULATION
• In general, families headed by women, with children and
the elderly undergoing food insecurity, always in remote
places.

8. IMPLEMENTATION METHODOLOGY
1. Community Mobilization
- Capacity building and
mobilization of leaders from
the civil society through city
councils and committees –
program steps.
- Selection of families carried
out in a participatory and
transparent way.

9. IMPLEMENTATION METHODOLOGY
2. Capacity Building
- Training of technical staff,
trainers and bricklayers from the
local community.
- Capacity for families in the
maintenance of tanks (cisterns)
and the use and treatment of
water, as well as in notions on
citizenship and living in the semi-
arid region.

10. IMPLEMENTATION METHODOLOGY
3. Participatory construction: involvement of beneficiary families and the
community in general throughout the construction process.

11. EFFECTIVENESS OF THE USE OF PUBLIC RESOURCES
4.Control
- Cisterns receive an identification plate on which a number and geographical reference is written;
- Families are registered in the program and sign a receipt (Acknowledgement of Receipt);
- Data is made available through the monitoring system (SIG Cisterns) and also on the MDS website
(www.mds.gov.br/cisternas)

12. Annual Budget until December/2011
BRL 765 millions in 9 years

13. Number of Cisterns Built Annually until December/2011
415 thousand cisterns built

14. PARTNERSHIPS
• Brazilian Semi-Arid Articulation (ASA);
• State Governments;
• Municipal Government and Consortiums;
• Spanish International Cooperation Agency (AECID);
• Brazilian Federation of Banks (FEBRABAN);

15. BRAZIL WITHOUT EXTREME POVERTY: Water for All:
Universal Access to Water – Rural Areas in Brazil
Water for All
Cisterns
Program (MDS and other Ministries
(MDS)
and Public Banks)
- 750 thousand cisterns in the Semi-Arid Region (water for
consumption)
- 600 thousand families receiving water for production

16. BRAZIL WITOUTH EXTREME POVERTY
WATER FOR ALL Program
MDS Goals
• CURRENT DEMAND: 750 THOUSAND CISTERNS
• 2011 - 210 thousand cisterns
• 2012 - 190 thousand
• 2013 – 130 thousand
• TOTAL : 530 THOUSAND CISTERNS IN 2.5 YEARS

17. RESULTS AND IMPACTS
Social Impacts of the Cisterns Program (MDS/SAGI – EMBRAPA)
Sample of 4,189 households, stratified by 11 Landscape Units
(Agroecological Zoning of the Northeastern Region).
Some Results:
Less time spent on searching for and carrying water, especially
with regard to women and children.
More time for leisure activities, especially for children, and
more time for adults to dedicate themselves to children.
Improved quality of water consumed by families.
Decrease in the number of times adults and children get sick.
93% of families say they are very satisfied with the cisterns.

18. INDIRECT RESULTS
• 14 thousand bricklayers capacitated;
• Training and hiring of young people through the program;
• About 3 thousand community leaders mobilized who have
contributed to the organization of community – rights and
investments – through the program.
• Networking among municipal and state government, and
the civil society.

19. RESULTS AND IMPACTS
• Empowerment of families – access to water unchains families
from local political dependence;
• Intensification of local economy – construction material and
workforce employed by the local community;
• Possible effect on the decrease in child mortality and rural
exodus.

20. Before and After

21. Before and After

22. Segunda Água – Food production for family
use and commercialization of surplus
Purpose:
- Improve water capture, storage and use for domestic
purposes through the dissemination of experiences and
technologies of sustainable use of land and water
resources;
- Implement water capture and storage units;
-Capacity and promotion of experiences exchange on
sustainable management of water resources.

23. Segunda Água Program –
Implementation Methodology
1. Mobilization
- Establishing local commissions, registering and selecting eligible
families;
2. Capacity Building
- Training technical team, replicators and bricklayers, as well as offering
courses on Management of Water Resources for Food Production and
management of implemented social technologies;
3. Exchanges
- Regional and municipal exchanges;
- Peer-to-peer exchange of knowledge, appreciation of local knowledge;
4.Implementation of social technologies
- Equipment + infrastructure and inputs for production – BRL 850.00 (USD 512.00)
5. Control
- Setting a georeferenced database with information on each technology
implemented and benefitting family registered.

24. Social Technologies Implemented through the
Segunda Água Program
Stone Tanks
Underground Dams
Ground Capture
Systems
Low-cost Water Pumps
Runoff Collection Tanks
Financial Execution: 3 Partnership Agreement with AP1MC, State
2008-2010: BRL 87 million Partnership with BA, RN, PI, CE, PE and
2011: BRL 120 million Municipal Consortiums
Average Price: BRL 10 thousand (BRL 6,030.00)

27. Cisterns in Schools
 914 benefitting schools
1) Training and capacity building for children,
teachers/workers in food security and living in the semi-
arid region;
2) Promotion of improved teaching and learning
conditions through improved water, food and nutritional
security;
3) Strengthening of the process of social, cultural and
political change required for sustainable life in the semi-
arid region of the state of Bahia and Brazil, in general.

28. Cisterns in Schools

29. www.brasilsemmiseria.gov.br
contato@brasilsemmiseria.gov.br
NATIONAL SECRETARIAT OF FOOD AND NUTRITIONAL
SECURITY
www.mds.gov.br
sesan@mds.gov.br