Climate Change, Conflict: What Is Fuelling the Lake Chad Crisis

Feb 28, 2021 | Abhijit Mohanty, Kieran Robson, Samuel Ngueping, and Swayam Sampurna Nanda
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One of Africa’s largest freshwater bodies, the Lake Chad, has shrunk by 90 per cent. Over 10 million people across the region are in need of emergency assistance. The United Nations has term the Lake Chad crisis as “one of the worst in the world”.

Lake Chad in the Sahel straddles Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon and is home to 17.4 million people. It is blessed with rich aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity. The Lake Chad basin comprises biosphere reserves, World Heritage and Ramsar sites as well as wetlands of international conservation importance.

For years, the lake has been supporting drinking water, irrigation, fishing, livestock and economic activity for over 30 million people in the region. It is vital for indigenous, pastoral and farming communities in one of the world’s poorest countries. However, climate change has fuelled massive environmental and humanitarian crisis.