Food acquisition programs in the Brazilian semi-arid region: benefits to farmers and impacts of climate change

Climate change has been predicted to impact many vulnerable communities in rural regions of developing countries. Meanwhile, social protection programs have been discussed as strategies not only to address the current socioeconomic issues, but also to deal with vulnerabilities related to the capacity of people to cope with climate change. However, limited information remains available on the impacts of those social protection programs to beneficiaries, precluding further insights over the totality of effects due to program participation. In addition, the role of current environmental shocks and climate change over program functioning is far from being understood. Herein we investigate the perceived impacts, according to institutional actors, of a Brazilian food-based safety net program (Food Acquisition Program - PAA) on participating farmers, and the impacts of an extended drought on program functioning. Projections of changes in climate according to global and regionalized models provided in the literature were also used to discuss possible impacts on crops procured by the PAA. Overall, based on the interviews, PAA was perceived as positive with a diversity of effects at farm, household and community levels, while the extreme drought in 2012 impacted the program through the decreased availability of produce and even disruption of services. Changes in climate in the Northeast region will impact key crops procured by the program with possible consequences over all groups of beneficiaries if business stays as usual, requiring ex-ante adaptation over the various levels of program functioning.