It is with great satisfaction that we present this edited volume. It draws from the rich and timely presentations at the International Conference on Impacts of Climatic Variations and Sustainable Development in Semi-Arid Regions (ICID) held in Fortaleza, State of Ceará, Brazil, 27 January to 1 February 1992. ICID was a concerted effort on the part of social scientists, climatologists, policy analysts and policy makers to examine, find solutions for and bring attention to the common problems faced by the peoples of semi-arid lands – the most profound of which are associated with climatic phenomena. Conference participants were asked to examine the past consequences of and responses to climate variability, and given these past experiences, to reflect on the likely effects of and possible proactive policy responses to the types of climatic events that global warming might bring. Nations and peoples of the semi-arid regions of the world have had long histories of planning for, coping with, rebuilding after, and responding to variations inherent in their climates. The papers in this volume recount some of these histories and reflect on the future of the semi-arid lands of the least-developed countries.

ICID preceded the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, in order to give voice at UNCED to the plight and needs of peoples of these semi-arid lands. The semi-arid regions of the world contain a large portion of the least-developed countries on earth. It is in these poorer semiarid lands – the semi-arid tropics – where populations eke out their livings squeezed against a fluctuating and at times declining natural resource base.