Environmental Degradation, Climate Change and Conflict: The Lake Chad Basin Area
Publisher: International Crisis Group
Author(s): Ayo Obe
Date: 2015
Topics: Conflict Causes, Livelihoods, Renewable Resources
Countries: Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria
In 1974, Yisa (not his real name), a young engineer from Chibok town in north-eastern Nigeria’s Borno state, was an enthusiastic participant in the country’s response to the severe drought that had affected northern Nigeria and the wider Sahel region over the previous two years. The federal military government established several large-scale irrigation schemes designed to check the impact of future droughts, as well as allow the cultivation of rice, wheat, tomatoes and other foodstuffs. Engineer Yisa worked hard enough to merit a scholarship for further studies in Germany. But by the time he returned in 1979, hopes that the shrinkage of Lake Chad was due to temporary drought could no longer be sustained. And in 1984 he was one of several hundred who were sacked with little notice and no benefits when it became clear that Lake Chad could no longer sustain the development programs for which he had been employed. What happened to Lake Chad? And how is this affecting the 30 million people who rely on its waters for survival?