Poverty drought
Joao Medeiros Aragao, 58, epileptic and malnourished, reaches home after carrying two buckets of water for one mile. Sertao is the most populated semiarid region in the world located in Northeastern Brazil comprising parts of 9 states. In 2012-15 this region has undergone the hardest drought since the beginning of last century. It has killed more than half of the region´s cattle herd. No government has ever taken really effective measures against this historic tragedy, even though severe droughts strike the region every 12 to 15 years - the previous one was in 1998-99—and moderate drought conditions are nearly always a problem.