Climate pressures deepen livelihood crisis in Chad’s Lake Province
Declining fish stocks, damaged farmland and rising living costs are straining communities that depend on fishing and farming around Lake Chad.
Communities in Chad’s Lake Province are facing mounting pressure as climate change and overfishing contribute to declining fish stocks and disrupt livelihoods tied to Lake Chad.
Fishing and farming have historically been the foundation of local economies. France 24 reports that erratic weather is increasingly disrupting both activities, with farmland damaged and fish stocks dwindling.
The resulting pressure is being felt through higher living costs, adding to the strain on communities already dependent on the lake’s environmental stability. The report does not provide figures for the scale of the fish-stock decline, farmland damage or increased costs.
The livelihood crisis is unfolding alongside a longstanding security threat from Boko Haram jihadists. The current scale and frequency of militant activity in the region are not specified.
The reported conditions concern communities in Chad’s Lake Province and should not be taken as evidence of uniform impacts across all of Lake Chad or its wider basin.
