Grande Seca

The Grande Seca (English: Great Drought), or the Brazilian drought of 1877–1878, was the largest and most devastating drought in Brazilian history. It caused the deaths of between 400,000 and 500,000 people. Of the 800,000 people who lived in the affected Northeastern region, around 120,000 migrated to the Amazon while 68,000 migrated to other parts of Brazil. The Grande Seca was exacerbated by poorly managed agriculture. Overgrazing, sharecropping, and lack of sustainable agricultural practice compounded the effects of the drought. The majority of the sertão population (sertanejos) were poor sharecroppers, who depended on the winter rains to provide water for crops and cattle. Without adequate preparation the peasants of the sertão were unprepared for extended drought and quickly began to starve. Reactions to the disaster were almost nonexistent. Outside Brazil, news outlets briefly covered the drought. In the most-affected state of Ceará, many pleas for help were written to the Brazilian government, but these were mostly ignored because of political and social biases. When aid eventually arrived, it was poorly distributed. The eventual government response was a bureau to address future droughts in 1909 and building a reservoir.