The Cisterns Program is a Brazilian federal government initiative aimed at promoting water access for low-income rural families. The Program operates through the implementation of a broad set of simple and low-cost social technologies, aimed at ensuring safe access to water for consumption and food production. To participate, families must be registered in the Single Registry (Cadastro Único), with priority given to traditional peoples and communities, female-headed households, families with young children, or persons with disabilities.
- Water for consumption (or First Water): the main technology is the 16,000-liter slab cistern, which involves capturing rainwater from the household roof, simplified filtering, and storage in a 16,000-liter masonry reservoir.
- Water for food production and animal rearing (Second Water): includes technologies such as the 52,000-liter pavement cistern (cisterna calçadão), the 52,000-liter runoff cistern (cisterna enxurrada), underground dams, trench reservoirs, among other technologies.
- School Cisterns: cisterns with a capacity between 10,000 and 52,000 liters, installed in rural public schools to supply water for consumption and food preparation.
- Amazon Region: includes individual and community water supply systems, associated with the installation of a bathroom (with sink, shower, and toilet) and an absorption cesspit. Technologies have been implemented mainly in conservation units and indigenous villages located in isolated rural areas vulnerable to climate change in the Amazon Basin (specifically in the states of Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Pará, and Rondônia).
The Program originated from a demand by civil society in the Brazilian semiarid region, which, following the COP 3 on Desertification held in 1999 in Recife/PE, organized itself around the Brazilian Semiarid Articulation (ASA - Articulação Semiárido Brasileiro). In the early 2000s, this network—currently composed of over 3,000 civil society organizations in Brazil, including cooperatives, rural unions, and NGOs—launched the 'One Million Cisterns Program' (P1MC). Its objective was to ensure access to water for human consumption for rural families in the Brazilian semiarid region, an area historically marked by recurrent droughts and limited access to drinking water. Initially supported as a pilot project by the Ministry of the Environment in 2001, the action was incorporated into the Zero Hunger (Fome Zero) strategy in 2003 and institutionalized as a public policy under the name Cisterns Program. This integration ensured its own federal budget and a structured legal basis, allowing for rapid expansion of coverage and strengthening the resilience of populations vulnerable to droughts or regular water shortages.
Following the initial success of the action – which involved only the implementation of 16,000-liter slab cisterns for consumption – civil society proposed expanding the policy's scope to include social technologies aimed at food production and animal rearing, with the goal of ensuring food security and income generation for rural families and traditional communities. In 2010, the Program's scope was expanded again to support the implementation of cisterns in rural public schools in the semiarid region.
From 2011/2012 onwards, the program's territorial scope was expanded beyond the semiarid region to include the South, especially Rio Grande do Sul, and the North, adapting the technologies to the specific needs of extractive and riverside communities in the Amazon. Also during this period, the initiative was integrated into the rural modality of the Minha Casa, Minha Vida (Brazil's flagship housing program), ensuring that new rural homes were delivered already equipped with rainwater harvesting systems.
This adaptability was also evident in the recent territorial diversification of the program: in 2023, there was an emergency implementation of technologies in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory to face a public health crisis, as well as the expansion of water storage solutions in Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul, supporting traditional communities facing increasingly severe seasonal droughts.
National Overview (2003 – January 2026):
- Water for consumption: 1,165,851 families served, 100,258 of which since January 2023.
- Water for production: 218,257 families served, 8,016 of which since 2023.
- School cisterns: 8,650 schools served, 929 of which since 2023.
Specific Contexts (2003 – January 2026):
- Amazon: 9,006 families, 15 xaponos (traditional local housing) in the Yanomami indigenous territory, and 260 schools.
- Rio Grande do Sul: 2,116 families served, located in the region most affected by droughts in the State.
- Goiás: 374 families served, mainly involving quilombola communities in the Kalunga territory.
- Mato Grosso do Sul: 520 families served, especially Guarani and Kaiowá indigenous people.
Available budget (2003–2023): BRL 5.69 billion (approximately USD 1 billion).
The cost per technology varies according to type and location:
- The 16 thousand liter cistern, the most widespread, has an average cost of BRL 7,100 (about USD 1,350);
- Social technologies aimed at food production, school cisterns, and systems implemented in the Amazon cost between BRL 23,000 and BRL 30,000 (between USD 4,400 and USD 5,700).
Multilevel governance, involving the federal government (financing, guidelines, and policymaking), state and municipal governments, civil society organizations (monitoring and oversight), and private non-profit entities (execution). The model also includes mechanisms for transparency and social control through local committees that act in prioritizing the communities to be served.
SIG Cisternas- a computerized system for registering beneficiaries, training processes and implemented technologies, including location and georeferencing and photographic records. The system gathers public and restricted information about beneficiaries and installed technologies, organized from a historical perspective.
Cisterns Programme has a proven track record of positive impacts on improving the quality of life of the beneficiary population. By offering better quality water for consumption, there is evidence that the technologies reduce the occurrence of water-borne diseases and infant mortality resulting from them. The water stored in the cisterns allows the development of productive subsystems previously limited by water scarcity, providing objective conditions for expanding agri-food production. The volume of water captured and stored enhances the productive backyard of the beneficiaries, with greater diversification of the food produced, thus providing regular and permanent access to healthy food and the generation of additional income (monetary and non-monetary), including a potential reduction in the migration of families from the rural areas to the cities.
Climate Adaptation and Resilience
“The Weather is Changing”: Rainfall Decline and Water Resilience in Brazil’s Semi-Arid (Amorim et al., 2026)
Drawing on 150 questionnaires administered to Cisterns Programme beneficiaries across nine Semi-Arid states, in-depth interviews with civil society and government representatives, and meteorological analysis using CHIRPS satellite precipitation data and the Standardised Precipitation Index. The study finds that 86% of beneficiaries perceive a decline in rainfall, consistent with a net negative but cyclical precipitation trend since 2010. More than a third of respondents report that water stored in their consumption cistern is insufficient to cover domestic needs year-round, over half redirect production-cistern water to domestic use during dry spells, and 65% of production-cistern holders report having stopped planting due to lack of rain. Despite these pressures, the study is explicit that cisterns remain a central element of water security in the Semi-Arid, sometimes the only water source for many rural families, and that the programme has profoundly transformed water access in the region. Both interviewees frame the technology as necessary but, on its own, no longer sufficient under a changing climate. It recommends reviewing cistern sizing standards against household demographics and local climate, expanding capacity through additional storage rings where feasible, and combining first- and second-water technologies with complementary measures such as underground dams, trench dams and greywater reuse within a wider inter-ministerial adaptation strategy.
From Water Access to Climate Resilience: The Cisterns Programme as a Climate Adaptation Strategy (Gonçalves, 2026)
Using municipal-level panel data for 1,644 municipalities between 1998 and 2020 and a staggered difference-in-differences design suited to the programme's non-uniform rollout, the study finds that cistern infrastructure reduced hospitalisation rates from acute diarrhoeal disease by 176 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, around 34% of the sample mean, with proportionally larger effects among children under four and adults over 60. Extreme drought shocks independently raised waterborne-disease hospitalisation by 47 to 77 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, and cistern infrastructure offset, and in many cases fully neutralised, this shock-driven increase: the programme functions as a climate-adaptation mechanism, not only a water-access intervention. Gains were larger in municipalities with higher education levels and a stronger presence of civil society organisations, indicating that community engagement is a necessary complement to hardware provision. Benefits are estimated to exceed costs within around 14 years, against a cistern design lifespan of at least 25 years.
Water, Health, and Social Technologies: One Million Cisterns Programme Case Study (Sousa Filho et al., 2025):
A systematic search across six academic databases found only 8 studies directly linking P1MC to health outcomes, a significant research gap given the programme's 20-year history and more than one million families reached. The WHO DPSEEA (Driving Force-Pressure-State-Exposure-Effect-Action) framework was applied to trace the causal path from drought pressure to waterborne disease, positioning cisterns as the key intervention point. Confirmed health findings synthesised across the reviewed literature include a 73% reduction in diarrhoeal risk, lower prevalence of parasitic infections, and increased birth weight for children exposed to the programme in utero. The authors recommend integrating P1MC records with health administrative databases for long-term impact monitoring and propose cisterns as a globally replicable climate adaptation tool in drought-prone regions.
Cisterns for Life: Climate Adaptation Policies for Water Provision and Rural Lives (Barreto et al., 2025):
A staggered difference-in-differences design using 15 years of linked administrative data found cumulative gains a decade after cistern installation: total formal earnings up by 20%, driven by a 15% rise in formal employment probability, a 14% increase in months worked, and a 7% rise in monthly wages. Welfare dependency fell markedly: Bolsa Familia receipt dropped by 34% and CadUnico enrolment by 9 percentage points within three years. Child hospitalisations for water-related diseases fell by 37% and adult hospitalisations by 16%. The primary mechanism was time savings: cisterns reduced the share of families spending over one hour daily on water collection from 46% to near zero, freeing time for formal employment. Fiscal externalities (higher tax revenues and reduced transfer costs) compensated for at least 35% of direct construction costs; the Marginal Value of Public Funds is estimated at 2.9 to 6.8.
Adequacy of Brazilian Social Protection Programmes to the Needs of Children and Adolescents (Arruda, 2024):
Drawing on an assessment of 22 Brazilian social protection programmes against child-sensitivity criteria, this policy brief finds that school cisterns expand children's and adolescents' access to safe drinking water in rural schools. The programme's semi-arid focus opens opportunities for intersectoral collaboration in health and nutrition. At minimum, delivery must go beyond cistern installation: drought-adaptation skills, including water treatment and preservation, and guidance on dietary practices adapted to local water availability are required to meet the child-sensitivity standard.
Climate Adaptation Policies and Infant Health: Evidence from a Water Policy in Brazil (Da Mata et al., 2023):
Access to cisterns during early pregnancy increased infant birth weight by 1.73 grams for each additional week of in-utero exposure. Effects were concentrated among more educated mothers, who showed higher compliance with the programme's water disinfection training. The finding points to a "last mile" challenge common to low-cost water technologies: physical access alone is not sufficient when behaviour change in water treatment is required for full health gains.
Vulnerability and Clientelism (Bobonis et al., 2022):
A randomised controlled trial across 1,308 households in 40 municipalities found that receiving a cistern reduced household vulnerability, measured across depression, child food security, and self-reported health, by 0.13 standard deviations. Political clientelism fell by 17% overall and by 38% among households with frequent prior contact with local politicians. Incumbent mayors received approximately 0.1 fewer votes per cistern recipient; challengers received 0.25 more votes, indicating a shift in political preference rather than disengagement. Effects on clientelism persisted through the year following the election.
Access to water for human consumption in the Brazilian semi-arid region: the ‘One Million Cisterns’ programme and its social implications (Diniz et al., 2022):
This article sought to provide an overview of the implementation of the cistern programme in the Brazilian semi-arid region, with the aim of understanding the limitations and potential of the resulting mechanisms of collective learning. The relationship between the State and civil society established in this process formed the backdrop to the analysis, which was based on categories derived from decolonial and Senian approaches. It was found that the dismantling of the cistern programme curtailed the possibilities for emerging agency and deprived hundreds of smallholder farmers of access to water.
An assessment of the Cisterns Programme's contribution to SDG 6, an international framework to which Brazil is a signatory. By 2021, the programme had installed 963,985 consumption cisterns. Contribution to universal water access is most pronounced in the Brazilian semi-arid region, which has the highest share of families without access to safe and regular water sources in the country. The note also documented a sharp post-2015 budget contraction that reduced annual installation volumes, flagging fiscal sustainability as the primary risk to continued progress.
Tecnologias Sociais como Impulso para o Acesso a Agua e o Desenvolvimento Sustentavel no Meio Rural Brasileiro: a Experiencia do Programa Cisternas (Santana and Rahal, 2020):
The CEPAL case study documents economic, social, and environmental outcomes over 2003-2018, framing the programme as a "Big Push for Sustainability." Over that period, R$ 3.6 billion was invested, directly benefiting 1.2 million families across 1,352 municipalities. Families with cisterns experienced an 82% income increase compared to families without. Health outcomes include a reduction of up to 69% in infant mortality from diarrhoeal diseases. Time spent fetching water fell by up to 90%, contributing to a 7.5% rise in school attendance with an estimated economic return of at least 4.8% per year. At least 20,000 local masons were trained to build cisterns, with 70% of material costs spent within the serviced municipalities.
Análise de Impacto do Programa Cisternas 1ª Água sobre Indicadores de Saúde (Britto, Carrillo and Sampaio, 2020):
In municipalities where the programme operated, the probability of death fell by 29% and the probability of hospitalisation fell by 26% relative to pre-programme averages. The main causes of reduced deaths and hospitalisations were water consumption-related, confirming cisterns' role in improving water access and quality. Effects were stronger among groups with higher educational attainment, consistent with greater compliance with water treatment and quality-preservation training.
Análise de Impacto do Programa Cisternas 1ª Água sobre Indicadores de Mercado de Trabalho (Britto, Carrillo and Sampaio, 2020):
Labour market gains from the programme were not uniform across the beneficiary population. Men experienced larger increases in formal employment and wages than women; younger adults aged 18-25 saw the highest gains in employment probability. Among those with fewer than seven years of schooling, the programme brought workers into formal employment who would not otherwise have participated, though wage gains were more modest. The pattern is consistent with a time-savings mechanism: freed from water collection, household members entered the formal labour market.
Os Efeitos do Programa Cisternas no Acesso a Água no Semiárido (Arsky, 2020):
Based on 31 semi-structured interviews with programme implementers in Bahia, Alagoas, Pernambuco, and Brasilia, this qualitative study documents social, political, and productive effects as perceived by those who delivered the programme. Beneficiaries gained autonomy and were no longer dependent on politically mediated water truck deliveries. Communities became more active in municipal councils, redefining water distribution based on need rather than political affiliation. With Second Water technologies and GAPA training, beneficiaries became experimental farmers, successfully growing vegetables and fruits previously considered unviable in the semi-arid, and facilitating horizontal knowledge exchange between households.
Impacto do Programa Cisternas sobre a Saúde Infantil no Semiárido (Emanuel et al., in Da Mata et al., 2019):
A difference-in-differences analysis of semi-arid municipalities found that P1MC reduced infant mortality from acute diarrhoeal diseases (DDA) progressively with programme duration: after 2 years, municipalities recorded a 19% decline in DDA mortality; after 9 years, a 71% decline, relative to the year 2000 baseline. Effects were strongest in municipalities with higher rural population shares and above-median educational attainment, indicating that community-level education is a necessary condition for the programme's health benefits.
Os Impactos Socioambientais do Programa Um Milhão de Cisternas (P1MC) no Território do Semiárido Potiguar (Sousa Neto and Escobar, 2019):
Secondary data from ASA show 67,527 plate cisterns constructed in Rio Grande do Norte, supplying 272,806 people across the state's 147 semi-arid municipalities. Beyond direct water access gains, the article identifies political discontinuity as the primary programme risk: federal budget changes and new administrations have historically disrupted funding and continuity, with no guarantee of sustained investment at the time of publication.
A Formação da Articulação Semiárido Brasileiro e do Programa Um Milhão de Cisternas no Município de Apodi-RN (Dutra and Rozendo, 2019):
A historical case study in Apodi, Rio Grande do Norte, documents how ASA mobilised over 3,000 civil society organisations to assume a leading role in programme implementation, exceeding state capacity in community mobilisation and programme legitimacy at key moments. The federal and state governments showed an ambiguous posture toward the civil society partnership model, at times supportive and at times undermining. The case demonstrates that coexistence-based development can succeed in historically marginalised semi-arid regions.
Harvesting Water for Living with Drought: Insights from the Brazilian Human Coexistence with Semi-Aridity Approach towards Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (Lindoso et al., 2018):
Household surveys of 499 family farms and stakeholder interviews in Bahia and Ceara map the Cisterns Programme's contributions to 9 SDGs: No Poverty (SDG 1), Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Quality Education (SDG 4), Gender Equality (SDG 5), Clean Water (SDG 6), Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10), Climate Action (SDG 13), Life on Land (SDG 15), and Peace and Justice (SDG 16). The study situates cisterns within the Human Coexistence with Semi-Aridity approach, which replaced the historical "fighting against drought" model with development grounded in maintaining rural livelihoods within the semi-arid environment.
Segurança Hídrica, Adaptação e Gênero: o Caso das Cisternas para Captação de Água de Chuva no Semiárido Brasileiro (Nogueira, 2017):
A qualitative study in Paraiba and Pernambuco examined how cisterns affected women and female-headed households. Before cisterns, collecting water fell largely on women and children, consuming multiple hours each day. Cisterns freed this time for health care, income-generating activities, and children's education. Priority targeting of female-headed households amplified these gains, making water access an entry point for broader improvements in women's well-being and adaptive capacity to drought.
Avaliação do Uso e Funcionamento das Cisternas do P1MC: Um Estudo no Semiárido Baiano (Lordelo et al., 2017):
A regional assessment of P1MC cisterns in Bahia examined physical condition, patterns of use, and water quality maintenance challenges in beneficiary households. Cisterns were widely adopted in areas where piped water supply systems cannot be implemented. Persistent operational challenges include roof catchment integrity, irregular access to disinfectants, and limited follow-up support, pointing to sustained technical assistance beyond initial installation as important for programme effectiveness.
Acesso a Água Proporcionado pelo Programa de Formação e Mobilização Social para Convivência com o Semiárido: Um Milhão de Cisternas Rurais: combate à seca ou ruptura da vulnerabilidade? (Gomes and Heller, 2016):
A survey of 623 questionnaires across 63 municipalities in Minas Gerais found that cisterns reduced the time families spent fetching water by nearly 90%, with 82% of respondents reporting improvements in quality of life. Persistent constraints identified include stored water volumes falling below recommended daily minimums during extended dry seasons and water quality risks from variable roof conditions and irregular access to disinfectants. Cisterns substantially improve access while ongoing maintenance and water quality follow-up remain important.
Aprendizado e Inovação no Desenho de Regras para a Implementação de Políticas Públicas: A Experiência do Programa Cisternas (Santana and Arsky, 2016):
Analysis of implementation records shows that accumulated institutional learning led to a redesigned legal and administrative framework for the programme. Under the original model, the process between formalising a funding agreement and contracting civil society execution partners took approximately one year; the reformed framework cut contracting to one to two months. Average cistern construction doubled, from 2.9 to 6.0 per day. The experience shows how iterative redesign of a civil society-government partnership model can improve delivery speed without sacrificing participatory quality.
Tecnologia Social e Desenvolvimento Local: Reflexões a Partir da Análise do Programa Um Milhão de Cisternas (Dias, 2013):
P1MC is examined as one of Brazil's most widely cited cases of social technology development. The central finding is that the programme embedded social inclusion and community empowerment within its design: cisterns were built through participatory community methods, generating solidarity and cooperation beyond the physical infrastructure. The shift from top-down drought-fighting approaches to community-based adaptation, the convivencia com o semiarido model, was central to the programme's effectiveness and popular legitimacy.
Confrontando a Vulnerabilidade e Indefensabilidade Social: A Experiencia da Articulação no Semiárido Brasileiro (ASA) (Gomes and Pena, 2012):
Based on interviews with an MDS programme manager, an ASA coordinator, and a P1MC beneficiary, the study assessed ASA's role in establishing coexistence-based practices through rainwater collection technologies. ASA's interventions were found effective in community mobilisation and programme legitimacy dimensions. An open challenge noted: material water security does not automatically translate into sustained civic and political empowerment, which requires continued organisational effort beyond cistern installation.
Impacto do Uso da Água de Cisternas na Ocorrência de Episódios Diarreicos na População Rural do Agreste Central de Pernambuco, Brasil (Luna et al., 2011):
In a prospective longitudinal study of nearly 1,800 rural residents in Pernambuco's Agreste Central, households with cisterns showed a 73% reduction in diarrhoeal risk (RR=0.27; p<0.001) compared to those without. Episodes were more frequent and lasted 1.5 times longer in homes without water storage. The findings link access to safe drinking water directly to marked reductions in both frequency and severity of waterborne disease.
References:
Arruda, P.L. (2024). Adequacy of Brazilian Social Protection Programmes to the Needs of Children and Adolescents. [Serie Proteção Social - Policy Brief #3]. UNICEF Brazil / Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC).
Arsky, I.C. (2020). Os efeitos do Programa Cisternas no acesso a água no semiárido. Desenvolvimento e Meio Ambiente, 55, 408-432.
Barreto, Y., Britto, D.G.C., Carrillo, B., Da Mata, D., Emanuel, L., Sampaio, B. (2025). Cisterns for Life: Climate Adaptation Policies for Water Provision and Rural Lives (IZA Discussion Paper No. 18250). IZA - Institute of Labor Economics.
Bobonis, G.J., Gertler, P., Gonzalez-Navarro, M., Nichter, S. (2022). Vulnerability and Clientelism. American Economic Review, 112(11), 3627-3659.
Britto, D.G.C., Carrillo, B., Sampaio, B. (2020a). Análise de Impacto do Programa Cisternas 1a Água sobre Indicadores de Mercado de Trabalho (Produto 1, TED017/2020). SUDENE / UFPE/GAPPE.
Britto, D.G.C., Carrillo, B., Sampaio, B. (2020b). Análise de Impacto do Programa Cisternas 1a Água sobre Indicadores de Saúde (Produto 4, TED017/2020). SUDENE / UFPE/GAPPE.
Castro, C.N. (2021). Avaliação do Programa Nacional de Apoio a Captação de Água de Chuva e Outras Tecnologias Sociais (Programa Cisternas), a Luz dos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (Texto para Discussão 2722). Brasília: IPEA.
Da Mata, D., Emanuel, L., Pereira, V., Sampaio, B. (2023). Climate Adaptation Policies and Infant Health: Evidence from a Water Policy in Brazil. Journal of Public Economics, 220, 104835.
Da Mata, D., Freitas, R.E., Resende, G.M. (eds.) (2019). Avaliação de Políticas Públicas no Brasil: uma análise do semiárido. Brasília: IPEA. [Chapter 4: Emanuel, L., Da Mata, D., Sampaio, B., Vaz, P.H. Impacto do Programa Cisternas sobre a saúde infantil no semiárido.]
Dias, R.B. (2013). Tecnologia social e desenvolvimento local: reflexões a partir da análise do Programa Um Milhão de Cisternas. Revista Brasileira de Desenvolvimento Regional, 1(2), 173-189.
Diniz, Paulo Cesar Oliveira; dos Santos, Christiane Fernandes; Rozendo, Cimone. Access to water for human consumption in the Brazilian semi-arid region: the ‘One Million Cisterns’ programme and its social implications. Contemporânea – UFSCar Journal of Sociology, vol. 12, no. 1, 2022.
Dutra, C.K.T., Rozendo, C. (2019). A formação da Articulação Semiárido Brasileiro e do Programa Um Milhão de Cisternas no município de Apodi-RN. Ciência e Sustentabilidade - CeS, 5(2), 9-38.
Gomes, U.A.F., Heller, L. (2016). Acesso a água proporcionado pelo Programa de Formação e Mobilização Social para Convivência com o Semiárido: Um Milhão de Cisternas Rurais: combate à seca ou ruptura da vulnerabilidade? Engenharia Sanitária e Ambiental, 21(3), 623-633.
Gomes, U.A.F., Pena, J.L. (2012). Confrontando a vulnerabilidade e indefensabilidade social: a experiencia da Articulação no Semiárido Brasileiro (ASA). GEOUSP - Espaço e Tempo, 31(especial), 45-56.
Lindoso, D.P., Eiro, F., Bursztyn, M., Rodrigues-Filho, S., Nasuti, S. (2018). Harvesting Water for Living with Drought: Insights from the Brazilian Human Coexistence with Semi-Aridity Approach towards Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainability, 10(3), 622.
Lordelo, L.M.K., Borja, P.C., Porsani, M.J., Moraes, L.R.S., Orrico, S.R.M. (2017). Avaliação do uso e funcionamento das cisternas do P1MC - um estudo no semiárido baiano. Revista Eletrônica de Gestão e Tecnologias Ambientais (GESTA), 5(2), 107-121.
Luna, C.F., Brito, A.M., Costa, A.M., Lapa, T.M., Flint, J.A., Marcynuk, P. (2011). Impacto do uso da água de cisternas na ocorrência de episódios diarreicos na população rural do agreste central de Pernambuco, Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Saúde Materno Infantil, 8(1), 51-58.
Nogueira, D. (2017). Segurança hídrica, adaptação e gênero: o caso das cisternas para captação de água de chuva no semiárido brasileiro. Sustentabilidade em Debate, 8(3), 32-46.
Santana, V.L., Arsky, I.C. (2016). Aprendizado e inovação no desenho de regras para a implementação de políticas públicas: a experiencia do Programa Cisternas. Revista do Serviço Público, 67(2), 203-226.
Santana, V.L., Rahal, L.S. (2020). Tecnologias sociais como impulso para o acesso a água e o desenvolvimento sustentável no meio rural brasileiro: a experiencia do Programa Cisternas. CEPAL - Comissão Econômica para a América Latina e o Caribe.
Sousa Filho, J.F., Araujo, W., Sebastiao, M., et al., on behalf of the SEDHI team. (2025). Water, Health, and Social Technologies: One Million Cisterns Programme case study. medRxiv.
Sousa Neto, P.B., Escobar, M.L. (2019). Os impactos socioambientais do Programa um Milhão de Cisternas (P1MC) no território do Semiárido Potiguar. Revista Pensar Geografia, 3(1), 10-19.
Through regular monitoring and targeted assessments, the Cisterns program has made adjustments to meet the need to:
- Adapt technologies to different contexts, territories and populations;
- Improve technologies with a view to improving the quality of the water offered;
- Create a specific legal framework to enable faster and more effective implementation by partners;
- Approach with local social assistance, as a way of enabling the “active search” of families with a profile for assistance and who were outside the [[Brazil:Single Registry|Single Registry]];
- Guide and provide clear information to partners and executors, in order to ensure the adequate completion of all stages of technology implementation, including social mobilization and training processes;
- Carry out direct communication with the target population about the objectives of the program, assistance without requiring fees or financial compensation and possible channels for reporting.
International:
In Brazil:
Programme guides:
- National Program for Supporting Rainwater Harvesting and Other Social Technologies for Access to Water: A multilingual (Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, and Swahili) institutional guide detailing the functional specifications of the programme's social technologies. It also outlines the programme's multi-step implementation methodology, including beneficiary mobilization and selection, community training, and technologies' construction. Furthermore, it covers the multi-actor management model, instruments for social control (including SIG Cisternas), and the full regulatory framework.
Multimedia:
- Água para Colher Futuro (Water to Harvest the Future): A three-part short documentary series commemorating 20 years of the Cisterns Programme. Through beneficiary testimonies, the episodes highlight how different social technologies have successfully improved food security, reduced waterborne diseases, relieved severe physical labour burdens, and boosted school attendance for marginalised and traditional communities.
Note: The series is originally in Portuguese, but episodes are also available in English and Spanish on the Youtube channel.
SDG 1 - No poverty
- Target 1.1 - By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day.
- Indicator 1.1.1 - Proportion of the population living below the international poverty line by sex, age, employment status and geographical location (urban/rural)
- Target 1.2 - By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions.
- Indicator 1.2.1 - Proportion of population living below the national poverty line, by sex and age
- Indicator 1.2.2 - Proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions
- Target 1.3 - Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable.
- Indicator 1.3.1 - Proportion of population covered by social protection floors/systems, by sex, distinguishing children, unemployed persons, older persons, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, newborns, work-injury victims and the poor and the vulnerable
SDG 2 - Zero hunger
- Target 2.1 - By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round.
- Indicator 2.1.1 - Prevalence of undernourishment
- Indicator 2.1.2 - Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the population, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES)
- Target 2.2 - By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women and older persons.
- Indicator 2.2.1 - Prevalence of stunting (height for age <-2 standard deviation from the median of the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age
- Indicator 2.2.2 - Prevalence of malnutrition (weight for height >+2 or <-2 standard deviation from the median of the WHO Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age, by type (wasting and overweight)
- Indicator 2.2.3 - Prevalence of anaemia in women aged 15 to 49 years, by pregnancy status (percentage)
SDG 3 - Good health and wellbeing
- Target 3.9 - By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination
- Indicator 3.9.2 - Mortality rate attributed to unsafe water, unsafe sanitation and lack of hygiene (exposure to unsafe Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for All (WASH) services)
SDG 6 - Clean water and sanitation
- Target 6.1 - By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all
- Indicator 6.1.1 - Proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services
- Target 6.2 - By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations
- Indicator 6.2.1 - Proportion of population using (a) safely managed sanitation services and (b) a hand-washing facility with soap and water
- Target 6.4 - By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity
- Indicator 6.4.1 - Change in water-use efficiency over time
- Indicator 6.4.2 - Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources
- Target 6.b - Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management
- Indicator 6.b.1 -Proportion of local administrative units with established and operational policies and procedures for participation of local communities in water and sanitation management
SDG 10 - Reducing inequalities
- Target 10.1 - By 2030, progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population at a rate higher than the national average
- Indicator 10.1.1 - Growth rates of household expenditure or income per capita among the bottom 40 per cent of the population and the total population
- Target 10.2 - By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status
- Indicator 10.2.1 - Proportion of people living below 50 per cent of median income, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
SDG 13 - Climate action
- Target 13.1 - Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries
- Indicator 13.1.1 - Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
- Indicator 13.1.2 - Number of countries that adopt and implement national disaster risk reduction strategies in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030
- Indicator 13.1.3 - Proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk reduction strategies.
SDG 1 – No poverty
- Target 1.1 – By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day.
- Indicator 1.1.1 – Proportion of the population living below the international poverty line by sex, age, employment status and geographical location (urban/rural)
- Target 1.2 – By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions.
- Indicator 1.2.1 – Proportion of population living below the national poverty line, by sex and age
- Indicator 1.2.2 – Proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions
- Target 1.3 – Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable.
- Indicator 1.3.1 – Proportion of population covered by social protection floors/systems, by sex, distinguishing children, unemployed persons, older persons, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, newborns, work-injury victims and the poor and the vulnerable
SDG 2 – Zero hunger
- Target 2.1 – By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round.
- Indicator 2.1.1 – Prevalence of undernourishment
- Indicator 2.1.2 – Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the population, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES)
- Target 2.2 – By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women and older persons.
- Indicator 2.2.1 – Prevalence of stunting (height for age <-2 standard deviation from the median of the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age
- Indicator 2.2.2 – Prevalence of malnutrition (weight for height >+2 or <-2 standard deviation from the median of the WHO Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age, by type (wasting and overweight)
- Indicator 2.2.3 – Prevalence of anaemia in women aged 15 to 49 years, by pregnancy status (percentage)
SDG 3 – Good health and wellbeing
- Target 3.9 – By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination
- Indicator 3.9.2 – Mortality rate attributed to unsafe water, unsafe sanitation and lack of hygiene (exposure to unsafe Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for All (WASH) services)
SDG 6 – Clean water and sanitation
- Target 6.1 – By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all
- Indicator 6.1.1 – Proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services
- Target 6.2 – By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations
- Indicator 6.2.1 – Proportion of population using (a) safely managed sanitation services and (b) a hand-washing facility with soap and water
- Target 6.4 – By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity
- Indicator 6.4.1 – Change in water-use efficiency over time
- Indicator 6.4.2 – Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources
- Target 6.b – Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management
- Indicator 6.b.1 -Proportion of local administrative units with established and operational policies and procedures for participation of local communities in water and sanitation management
SDG 10 – Reducing inequalities
- Target 10.1 – By 2030, progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population at a rate higher than the national average
- Indicator 10.1.1 – Growth rates of household expenditure or income per capita among the bottom 40 per cent of the population and the total population
- Target 10.2 – By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status
- Indicator 10.2.1 – Proportion of people living below 50 per cent of median income, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
SDG 13 – Climate action
- Target 13.1 – Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries
- Indicator 13.1.1 – Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
- Indicator 13.1.2 – Number of countries that adopt and implement national disaster risk reduction strategies in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030
- Indicator 13.1.3 – Proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk reduction strategies.
The Cisterns Program is a Brazilian federal government initiative aimed at promoting water access for low-income rural families. The Program operates through the implementation of a broad set of simple and low-cost social technologies, aimed at ensuring safe access to water for consumption and food production. To participate, families must be registered in the Single Registry (Cadastro Único), with priority given to traditional peoples and communities, female-headed households, families with young children, or persons with disabilities.
- Water for consumption (or First Water): the main technology is the 16,000-liter slab cistern, which involves capturing rainwater from the household roof, simplified filtering, and storage in a 16,000-liter masonry reservoir.
- Water for food production and animal rearing (Second Water): includes technologies such as the 52,000-liter pavement cistern (cisterna calçadão), the 52,000-liter runoff cistern (cisterna enxurrada), underground dams, trench reservoirs, among other technologies.
- School Cisterns: cisterns with a capacity between 10,000 and 52,000 liters, installed in rural public schools to supply water for consumption and food preparation.
- Amazon Region: includes individual and community water supply systems, associated with the installation of a bathroom (with sink, shower, and toilet) and an absorption cesspit. Technologies have been implemented mainly in conservation units and indigenous villages located in isolated rural areas vulnerable to climate change in the Amazon Basin (specifically in the states of Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Pará, and Rondônia).
The Program originated from a demand by civil society in the Brazilian semiarid region, which, following the COP 3 on Desertification held in 1999 in Recife/PE, organized itself around the Brazilian Semiarid Articulation (ASA – Articulação Semiárido Brasileiro). In the early 2000s, this network—currently composed of over 3,000 civil society organizations in Brazil, including cooperatives, rural unions, and NGOs—launched the ‘One Million Cisterns Program’ (P1MC). Its objective was to ensure access to water for human consumption for rural families in the Brazilian semiarid region, an area historically marked by recurrent droughts and limited access to drinking water. Initially supported as a pilot project by the Ministry of the Environment in 2001, the action was incorporated into the Zero Hunger (Fome Zero) strategy in 2003 and institutionalized as a public policy under the name Cisterns Program. This integration ensured its own federal budget and a structured legal basis, allowing for rapid expansion of coverage and strengthening the resilience of populations vulnerable to droughts or regular water shortages.
Following the initial success of the action – which involved only the implementation of 16,000-liter slab cisterns for consumption – civil society proposed expanding the policy’s scope to include social technologies aimed at food production and animal rearing, with the goal of ensuring food security and income generation for rural families and traditional communities. In 2010, the Program’s scope was expanded again to support the implementation of cisterns in rural public schools in the semiarid region.
From 2011/2012 onwards, the program’s territorial scope was expanded beyond the semiarid region to include the South, especially Rio Grande do Sul, and the North, adapting the technologies to the specific needs of extractive and riverside communities in the Amazon. Also during this period, the initiative was integrated into the rural modality of the Minha Casa, Minha Vida (Brazil’s flagship housing program), ensuring that new rural homes were delivered already equipped with rainwater harvesting systems.
This adaptability was also evident in the recent territorial diversification of the program: in 2023, there was an emergency implementation of technologies in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory to face a public health crisis, as well as the expansion of water storage solutions in Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul, supporting traditional communities facing increasingly severe seasonal droughts.
Through regular monitoring and targeted assessments, the Cisterns program has made adjustments to meet the need to:
- Adapt technologies to different contexts, territories and populations;
- Improve technologies with a view to improving the quality of the water offered;
- Create a specific legal framework to enable faster and more effective implementation by partners;
- Approach with local social assistance, as a way of enabling the “active search” of families with a profile for assistance and who were outside the [[Brazil:Single Registry|Single Registry]];
- Guide and provide clear information to partners and executors, in order to ensure the adequate completion of all stages of technology implementation, including social mobilization and training processes;
- Carry out direct communication with the target population about the objectives of the program, assistance without requiring fees or financial compensation and possible channels for reporting.
Access to irrigation; Social registry; Pro-poor access to agricultural inputs, and climate resilient technologies
International:
In Brazil:
Multilevel governance, involving the federal government (financing, guidelines, and policymaking), state and municipal governments, civil society organizations (monitoring and oversight), and private non-profit entities (execution). The model also includes mechanisms for transparency and social control through local committees that act in prioritizing the communities to be served.
National Overview (2003 – January 2026):
- Water for consumption: 1,165,851 families served, 100,258 of which since January 2023.
- Water for production: 218,257 families served, 8,016 of which since 2023.
- School cisterns: 8,650 schools served, 929 of which since 2023.
Specific Contexts (2003 – January 2026):
- Amazon: 9,006 families, 15 xaponos (traditional local housing) in the Yanomami indigenous territory, and 260 schools.
- Rio Grande do Sul: 2,116 families served, located in the region most affected by droughts in the State.
- Goiás: 374 families served, mainly involving quilombola communities in the Kalunga territory.
- Mato Grosso do Sul: 520 families served, especially Guarani and Kaiowá indigenous people.
Available budget (2003–2023): BRL 5.69 billion (approximately USD 1 billion).
The cost per technology varies according to type and location:
- The 16 thousand liter cistern, the most widespread, has an average cost of BRL 7,100 (about USD 1,350);
- Social technologies aimed at food production, school cisterns, and systems implemented in the Amazon cost between BRL 23,000 and BRL 30,000 (between USD 4,400 and USD 5,700).
SIG Cisternas– a computerized system for registering beneficiaries, training processes and implemented technologies, including location and georeferencing and photographic records. The system gathers public and restricted information about beneficiaries and installed technologies, organized from a historical perspective.