Dnocs

What Dnocs does

DNOCS (Departamento Nacional de Obras Contra as Secas) is a Brazilian federal autonomous government agency (autarquia) operating under the Ministério da Integração e do Desenvolvimento Regional (MIDR). Headquartered in Fortaleza, Ceará, it holds an exclusive statutory mandate as the sole federal entity responsible for drought mitigation in Brazil's Semiárido (semi-arid) region. The agency delivers a portfolio of public services to rural communities, including water access through deep well drilling, construction and maintenance of dams and reservoirs, management of public irrigation perimeters, aquaculture and fish farming support (including fingerling distribution and training courses), and agricultural land titling with associated debt administration (Tarifa K1).

The agency's technology infrastructure comprises SEI (Sistema Eletrônico de Informações) for electronic document management, SGPI (Sistema de Gestão de Perímetros Irrigados) for irrigation perimeter management, SIGEPRO (Sistema de Gestão de Projetos) for project tracking, the Apoena multi-module platform for administrative bulletins and procurement, a hydrological monitoring service, and Drive do DNOCS for cloud-based document storage. Regional service delivery is executed through a network of nine Coordenadorias Estaduais (CEST) offices in Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Minas Gerais, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte, and Sergipe, complemented by unified digital delivery via the gov.br portal and Protocolo.gov.br. Technical execution is augmented through Termo de Execução Descentralizada (TED) partnerships with federal universities including IFCE, UFPE, and UFRN.

DNOCS does not generate commercial revenue. Its operations are funded through congressional appropriations via the federal annual budget (Lei Orçamentária Anual, LOA), with Technical Cooperation Agreements formalized with state governments to coordinate regional water and irrigation management. Core public services are provided free of charge to citizens; nominal revenue offsets come from administrative fees for agricultural lot titling (Tarifa K1) and published price tables for fingerlings sold from production units.

Name

Dnocs

Legal name

Departamento Nacional de Obras Contra as Secas

Website

https://dnocs.gov.br

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

DNOCS is a Brazilian federal government autonomous agency (autarquia) responsible for drought mitigation in the Semiárido region, delivering water access, dam maintenance, irrigation, aquaculture, and agricultural land titling services to rural communities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Fortaleza

HQ country

Brazil

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Federal Government Budget Allocation: DNOCS is a federal government agency funded through the national annual budget (LOA - Lei Orçamentária Anual). Revenue is derived from congressional appropriations rather than commercial revenue generation.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

DNOCS is a Brazilian federal government autarquia that delivers drought-mitigation public services in Brazil's Semiarid region, including deep well drilling and water access, dam construction and maintenance, public irrigation perimeter management, aquaculture and fish farming support (fingerling production and stocking of public reservoirs), and agricultural land titling (Tarifa K1 debt renegotiation and negative debt certificates). Services are delivered free of charge via the gov.br portal and a network of state-level CEST offices.

Product overview

DNOCS (Departamento Nacional de Obras Contra as Secas) is a Brazilian federal government agency that operates as a unified platform of public services focused on combating drought effects in the Semiárido region. The core offerings include water access services (deep wells), dam infrastructure management, agricultural lot titling, fish farming/aquaculture programs, and technical publications. DNOCS also maintains internal systems including SEI (document management), SGPI (irrigation perimeter management), SIGEPRO (project management), Apoena (multi-module administrative system), and Drive (cloud storage). The services are delivered through the gov.br portal with digital protocol capabilities for online document submission and tracking.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Acesso à Água (Water Access) Service enabling communities in the Brazilian Semiarid region to request deep wells (poços profundos) and water access solutions from DNOCS. Targets rural communities and smallholders facing water scarcity.
• Barragens (Dams) Dam maintenance services and infrastructure management for water reservoirs supporting agriculture and communities in drought-prone areas. Targets regions where DNOCS holds dam assets.
• Piscicultura (Fish Farming) Aquaculture services including distribution of fingerlings (alevinos) from DNOCS production units, stocking of public reservoirs with fish, and continental aquaculture training courses. Targets fishers and rural families in the Semiarid region.
• Lotes Agrícolas (Agricultural Lots) Agricultural land titling services including negative debt certificates, Tarifa K1 tariff demonstrations, debt renegotiation, and administrative rebate requests (Rebate Administrativo DNOCS 2025). Targets holders of agricultural lots in DNOCS irrigation perimeters.
• Protocolo Digital (Digital Document Protocol) Digital document protocol service allowing online submission and tracking of administrative documents to DNOCS via Protocolo.gov.br. Targets citizens, legal representatives, and organizations filing processes with the agency.
• Biblioteca Zenaide Sá Carneiro da Cunha Technical library services including catalog consultation, bibliographic donations, bibliographic material exchange, and visitor access scheduling. Targets researchers, students, and the general public interested in drought and water resource topics.
• Publicações Técnicas (Technical Publications) Distribution of technical publications and documents related to drought mitigation, water resources, and DNOCS activities. Targets researchers, technical professionals, and the general public.
• Bolsões das Secas Service for issuing work declarations to former drought-relief workers who participated in emergency front works during the 1982-1984 Bolsões das Secas period, supporting retirement benefit claims. Targets former DNOCS emergency workers.

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• CEST/AL - Coordenadoria Estadual no Estado de AlagoascoreOthersTechnical Cooperation Agreement (Acordo de Cooperação Técnica) between DNOCS and the state of Alagoas for coordinated water resource and irrigation infrastructure management. Operates under DNOCS's regional decentralization structure.
• CEST/BA - Coordenadoria Estadual no Estado da BahiacoreOthersTechnical Cooperation Agreement between DNOCS and the state of Bahia for joint management of water infrastructure and irrigation perimeters in the Bahia semiarid region.
• CEST/CE - Coordenadoria Estadual no Estado do CearácoreOthersTechnical Cooperation Agreement between DNOCS and the state of Ceará. The CEST/CE has the longest operational history with cooperation agreements documented from 2021 to 2026, covering multiple irrigation and water access projects.
• CEST/MG - Coordenadoria Estadual no Estado de Minas GeraiscoreOthersTechnical Cooperation Agreement between DNOCS and the state of Minas Gerais, with multiple active agreements in 2026 including ACT 11, 23, 65, 74, 78, 95, 169, 175, 176, 180, 190, 192, 193, 194, 201, 202, 206, 213, 215, 218, 220, 221, 222, 223, 231, 299, 321, 340, 342, 343, 345, 346, 352, 354, 360, 365, and more covering diverse technical cooperation areas.
• CEST/PB - Coordenadoria Estadual no Estado da ParaíbacoreOthersTechnical Cooperation Agreement between DNOCS and the state of Paraíba. Active agreements in 2026 include ACT 58, 79, 105, 170, 181, 226, 268, 281, and 411, covering various technical cooperation programs.
• CEST/PE - Coordenadoria Estadual no Estado de PernambucocoreOthersTechnical Cooperation Agreement between DNOCS and the state of Pernambuco for water infrastructure and irrigation cooperation.
• CEST/PI - Coordenadoria Estadual no Estado do PiauícoreOthersTechnical Cooperation Agreement between DNOCS and the state of Piauí for coordinated drought mitigation and water resource management.
• CEST/RN - Coordenadoria Estadual no Estado do Rio Grande do NortecoreOthersTechnical Cooperation Agreement between DNOCS and the state of Rio Grande do Norte for water infrastructure cooperation in the state's semiarid regions.
• CEST/SE - Coordenadoria Estadual no Estado de SergipecoreOthersTechnical Cooperation Agreement between DNOCS and the state of Sergipe for joint water resource management and irrigation infrastructure.
• MIDR - Ministério da Integração e do Desenvolvimento RegionalcoreOthersDNOCS is a federal agency under MIDR (Ministry of Integration and Regional Development), which oversees its operations, budget allocations, and strategic alignment through the Portais das Coligadas platform.
• IFCE - Instituto Federal do CearásecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerTermo de Execução Descentralizada (TED) partnership with IFCE for decentralized technical execution of specific DNOCS programs and projects.
• UFPE - Universidade Federal de PernambucosecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerTermo de Execução Descentralizada (TED) partnership with UFPE for academic and technical cooperation on water resource projects.
• UFRN - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do NortesecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerTermo de Execução Descentralizada (TED) partnership with UFRN for decentralized technical execution and research cooperation on DNOCS infrastructure projects.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• ANA (Agência Nacional de Águas e Saneamento Básico): Brazilian federal water regulator that sets hydrological policy and coordinates basin-level planning across the country. Comparable as a federal water-governance actor, though ANA operates at the regulatory/policy layer rather than direct infrastructure execution like DNOCS.
• U.S. Bureau of Reclamation: U.S. federal agency managing water infrastructure, dams, and irrigation projects in the arid western United States. Closest international functional analog to DNOCS — both are federal agencies delivering water infrastructure and irrigation services in semi-arid regions.
• Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA): U.S. federal corporation delivering integrated water, dam, and regional development infrastructure. Comparable as a multi-purpose public water/regional-development entity with a similar mandate to combine infrastructure delivery with rural community support.

Regional players

• South Africa DWS (Department of Water and Sanitation): South African government department managing national water resources, dams, and irrigation. Comparable international analog as a public-sector water infrastructure administrator with semi-arid regional focus.
• EMBRAPA (Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária): Brazilian federal agricultural research corporation that supports family farming and semi-arid agricultural innovation. Comparable as a federal entity serving DNOCS's downstream beneficiary communities, though operating in R&D rather than infrastructure.
• CONAGUA (Comisión Nacional del Agua - Mexico): Mexican federal agency administering national water resources, irrigation districts, and drought response. Comparable in mandate to DNOCS as a federal water infrastructure authority serving semi-arid territories in Latin America.
• SUDENE (Superintendência do Desenvolvimento do Nordeste): Brazilian federal agency for the socioeconomic development of the Northeast region. Operates in the same Semiárido territory as DNOCS with overlapping rural-development and infrastructure mandates.

Direct peers

• CODEVASF (Companhia de Desenvolvimento dos Vales do São Francisco e do Parnaíba): Brazilian federal public company with an analogous mandate for regional water/irrigation infrastructure development and family-farming support. Most directly comparable federal entity to DNOCS, with overlapping irrigation-perimeter and aquaculture portfolios, differing primarily by river-basin geography.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/dnocsoficial
• Facebookfacebook.com/dnocsgovbr
• Instagraminstagram.com/dnocsoficial
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dnocs

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Dnocs