Facing water scarcity: A critical analysis of resilience and vulnerability of irrigation systems in Ceará, Brazil

This article examines how two irrigation schemes in Ceará, Brazil, coped with severe water scarcity between 2012 and 2018. Based on qualitative research, the analysis focuses on two schemes: one composed of smallholders and the other primarily occupied by agribusiness, both reliant on the Banabuiú reservoir, which nearly dried up. Findings show that differentiated forms of resilience emerge from socially constructed vulnerabilities and uneven access to resources. Political and institutional decisions promote irrigation as a development strategy, increasing water demand, framed by narratives of modern irrigation. These narratives legitimise certain strategic choices and categories of producers, shaping who is able to act and their capacity to respond to scarcity. Together, these processes influence which forms of resilience are possible, for whom, and at what scale.