The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a UN agency, operates in the Brazilian semi-arid region, financing six projects, all of them with actions to promote rural development in pockets of extreme poverty located in the region. To support better execution of these projects, IFAD, through the donation of financial resources, in partnership with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), financed two Knowledge Management programs.

The first, from 2011 to 2017, was the Semear Program, and the second, in execution, began in 2017 and is expected to end in 2021, called Programa Semear Internacional (PSI). The focus of the Knowledge Management programs was to identify, systematize and disseminate successful experiences and best practices associated with living with the semiarid region of the Northeast, in order to train managers, technicians, producers and producers of family farming in agricultural and non-agricultural activities.

In addition to training and exchanges, the Programs enabled the implementation of a complex evaluation and monitoring system and the development of an effective communication and dissemination process, through an electronic portal integrated with Social Networks, allowing access to books and other publications produced by the Programs. Another goal achieved was the expansion of political dialogue between authorities, managers, technicians and representatives of society to assess and discuss public policies of interest to family farming in the Northeast.