Chad
- Population: 16.9 million
- People in Need: 5.5 million
Our Impact
- People Helped Last Year: 525,369
- Our Team: 306 employees
- Program Start: 1981
Torrential Downpours Have Destroyed Homes and Devastated Fields, Raising Concerns About Rising Hunger
More than 2.7 million people have been affected by torrential rains that caused severe flooding in Central and East Africa, including 1.7 million people in Chad, one million in Nigeria and more than 230,000 in Cameroon. With hundreds of thousands of homes and fields submerged, Action Against Hunger is calling on funding to enable a swift emergency response to help the region’s most vulnerable populations.
Chad
The rains in Chad began at the end of July and have not subsided, with widespread impacts across the Lac, Mayo-Kebbi Est, Mandoul, Tandjilé and Batah provinces. The Sila province, which has been welcoming refugees from Sudan’s civil war, is also badly affected. To date, the floods have killed over 500 people and destroyed more than 210,000 houses, 880,000 acres of fields, and nearly 70,000 cattle, posing a severe hunger risk in a country where 3.4 million people are already acutely food insecure.
Action Against Hunger is working to distribute emergency necessities to those impacted by the flooding.
“The affected populations are facing critical needs for food, drinking water, shelter, health and protection,” said Gusatve Gnagny, Action Against Hunger’s Country Director in Chad. “According to initial estimates, nearly $100 million is needed to bring relief to these stricken populations. So far, barely 10% of this sum has been mobilized.”
NIGERIA
In Nigeria, the floods have severely impacted the states of Borno, Adamawa, Bauchi, Enugu, Jigawa, Kanu, Bayelsa and Yobe, where tens of thousands of people have been left without shelter or food. Before the crisis, more than 32 million people across the country were already facing severe food insecurity. The floods submerged 50% of Borno state’s capital, Maiduguri, affecting 414,000 people.
The Climate Crisis
At least 25% of the world does not have access to drinking water, and billions more don’t have access to safe sanitation. The climate crisis has impacted lives and livelihoods, drying up water sources, destroying homes, and devastating people’s livelihoods. Many families are displaced, and others still trek miles upon miles to unsafe, dirty, and contaminated ponds, rivers, streams, or other water sources.
“The floods have damaged over 300,000 acres of farmland in Nigeria,” said Thierno Samba Diallo, Action Against Hunger’s Country Director in Nigeria. “The damage is likely to exacerbate food insecurity during the current lean season and in the months to come.”
Cameroon
In Cameroon’s Far-North, 236,000 people are affected by flooding and more than 30,000 acres of crops have been destroyed. Fears of waterborne illnesses are growing.
“Certain infrastructure such as bridges and dykes have already collapsed, which will generate massive population displacements. The priority needs are food, shelter and essential household items, as well as access to water, hygiene and sanitation,” said Pascal Maillard, Country Director of Action Against Hunger in Cameroon. “The general mobilization of the humanitarian community and donors is vital; the emergency is here. It is pressing to respond to the current emergency, but also critical to help affected families recover and adapt to climate change in the months and years ahead.”
Climate shocks in Chad, Nigeria, and Cameroon are impacting the livelihoods of millions.
In Chad, Nigeria, and Cameroon, climatic shocks are becoming increasingly frequent. The recent flooding crisis is devastating farmland and livestock and severely impacting people’s already fragile livelihoods.
About Action Against Hunger in Chad, Nigeria, and Cameroon
Action Against Hunger has worked in Chad since 1981, in Nigeria since 2009 and in Cameroon since 2013. The staff provides support through projects dedicated to nutrition, health, mental health and psychosocial support water, hygiene, sanitation, food security, and livelihoods.
