FROM FIGHTING AGAINST DROUGHTS TO COEXISTING WITH THE SEMIARID

The Brazilian Semiarid Region has a predominant physical condition with low rainfall, shallow soils and few perennial springs, which makes it difficult to access water and consequently agricultural production. To mitigate this situation, several water storage strategies were implemented by public and private initiatives, without, however, guaranteeing universal access to it.  Hence, this work aims to analyze the paradigmatic transition from actions to combat droughts to those aimed at living with the Semiarid Region. For this, a bibliographic review is used as a methodology, as well as consultations with official government documents available on their websites. The text presents the role of civil society in the gestation of coexistence strategies with the Semiarid Region as opposed to policies to combat droughts implemented by state agencies and discusses the implementation of public policies aimed at the region. The results indicate that the social technologies of coexistence with the Semiarid Region promoted greater autonomy in the management of water resources and better quality of life of sertanejos and sertanejas in the Brazilian Semiarid Region.