Pedro Iziodorio says the rains have gotten scarcer with each passing year in the semi-arid outback of northeast Brazil known as the Sertão. Iziodorio, 46, admits that due to his excessive plowing in the past, much of his property’s thin topsoil has been washed away by what little rain falls, leaving him to grow corn and beans from what he calls “the bone of the land.” Farming is only possible in the January-through-May rainy seasons—in the years when the rainy season truly is rainy, that is. “As soon as it rains, everyone hurries to the field to plant,” says Iziodorio, who calculates his land now yields a tenth of the corn it used to. “We only can grow enough to survive... [Log in to read more]