Abstract

The paper assesses the socio-economic nature of the 1979/80 drought in the
Northeast on the basis of a survey conducted by the Joaquim Nabuco Foundation. It purports
to show the essence of the difficulties that drought brings to the population of its official
victims – those enrolled in the Emergency Program coordinated by SUDENE, a sample
of which was interviewed. A conclusion of the study reveals that the effects of a drought are
more intense, the poorer the affected social strata. Another conclusion indicates that the official
refugees’ production of subsistence crops had a decline of around 70 percent in 1978/80.

JEL Classification: Q54; Q25; Q15.