The strategies of water management by family farmers in rural communities in Francisco Sá (Minas Gerais, Brasil)

Abstract

This article has an objective to contribute to the debate about inequality in offering supply and access to water in rural communities in the seminary of Brazil. The research was carried out in three rural communities in Francisco Sá (MG): Campo Grande, Catuni and Poções. Using the data which was obtained from the interviews in institutions and with local leaders, characterized and identified the strategies which were made up by family farmers, in different situations, for human consumption and production. The principal source for drinking water and for cooking comes from the storage of plate cisterns that are collected from the rain, with the water truck that is being the second most accessed. It detected nine other techniques which are used in coexistence or in drought combating, answering to a hierarchy according to its destination, quality and availability. The results revealed that, despite the institution's work and organizations, the programs, projects and initiatives offered by them are insufficient to guarantee access to water in the different situations experienced. However, they are important to regularize the needs of the families in domestic use and in the reproduction of agriculture families in the semiarid region.