Combate à desertificação e implicações no desenvolvimento sustentável em Irauçuba-CE

Abstract

Desertification is the degradation of land in areas of arid, semi-arid and dry subhumid climate (UNCCD, 1998). Agricultural practices without proper adaptation to the region have caused land degradation and fed back the phenomenon in the Brazilian semi-arid region. Several measures to combat desertification and implement sustainable development have been taken in the region. This paper aims to carry out a bibliographic survey on desertification in Brazil and to point out and describe the actions implemented by the Sustainable Development Project of the Mandacaru Settlement, in Irauçuba-CE, started in 2013. The description of these activities is based on activities carried out by several projects and on the literature found on such practices. A survey of data on agricultural activities in the municipality was carried out using data from IBGE's annual surveys of agricultural production, livestock and plant extraction between the years 2012 and 2022 and data on the characteristics of agricultural establishments in Irauçuba based on information from the 2017 Agricultural Census. The data collected on the traditional activities practiced in the municipality and on the practices of the sustainable development project are presented and discussed in the light of the paradigm of the potentialities of the Brazilian semi-arid region. The problems of desertification are already felt in our society and there is an urgency to address the problem, the experience in measures to combat and recover degraded areas has achieved remarkable results, however there is a great need for more research and systematization of information in the fight against desertification.