This study analyzes the patterns of coordination of a set of policy instruments promoted by Brazil’s National Adaptation Plan as a means of fostering climate adaptation in the rural areas of the country’s semiarid region. It combines institutional data and semi-structured interviews with policymakers to elucidate the process of implementation of these instruments, with a focus on the enabling factors and (missing) connections in the policy mix. Coordination gaps between the enabling instruments and climate adaptation instruments, caused by institutional and political factors, resulted in implementation issues and a policy mix inclined to promote social vulnerability goals rather than sustainable production and climate risk management. The analysis provides insights into the challenges of achieving a coherent policy framework. It also contributes to the policy mix literature by defining criteria for a typology of interactions between policy instruments and by unpacking the functional ties of instruments in the policy mix.