The Chapada do Apodi is located in the area that divides the states of Ceará and Rio Grande do Norte, Brazi. In 1989 the National Department of Constructions against the Drought (DNOCS, in Portuguese) began a project of irrigation in the part of Apodi that was located in the state of Ceará. The area was occupied by big fruticulture companies, and that disarticulated the production of thousands of small agriculturists. In 2013, a similar project was about to begin, on the Rio Grande do Norte side, which threatened 6,000 family farmers.