Pronounced food consumption gaps among Sudanese refugees and displaced persons in Lac

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Food security conditions are further deteriorating as the lean season reaches its seasonal peak in August 2025. The continued influx of Sudanese refugees, various conflicts (including intercommunal conflicts and sporadic attacks by armed groups), accompanied by population displacements, and low household purchasing power, are sustaining a worrying level of food insecurity in eastern Chad, in Lac Province, and locally in the Sudanian zone. As a result, more pronounced food consumption deficits are anticipated for Sudanese refugee households in the eastern provinces, internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Lac, and very poor households in both rural and urban areas, due to depleted food stocks and declining incomes and purchasing power. This is driven by intense competition for limited job opportunities caused by an oversupply of labor in both rural and urban areas.
The influx of Sudanese refugees and Chadian returnees continues in Ouaddaï, Sila, Wadi-Fira, and Ennedi Est provinces, with main entry points at Tiné, Kulbus, Birak, and Adré. As of August 24, the total number of new arrivals since April 2023 has reached 876,552 people, up from 874,605 in July, 87 percent of whom are women and children among the pre-registered. These refugee households, having lost essential livelihood assets, increase the need for both food and non-food assistance. However, humanitarian actors are facing funding challenges, with the 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan only 20 percent funded as of the end of July 2025. Furthermore, the cholera outbreak that began in the Dougui refugee camp on July 13 in Ouaddaï Province has spread to other refugee sites and host communities in six health districts: Chokoyane, Hadjer Hadid, Adré, Farchana, Amleyouna (Ouaddaï), and Abdi (Sila), further increasing needs. As of August 20, 821 suspected cholera cases and 56 deaths had been reported, including 28 deaths in host communities.
In Lac Province, sporadic attacks by non-state armed groups (NSAGs) continue, preventing populations from engaging in their normal livelihoods, especially farming, fishing, and cross-border trade with Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria. These attacks have also caused population displacements, with people fleeing to safer areas. The Lac region currently hosts 225,689 IDPs. Due to insecurity and disrupted livelihoods, poor host households and IDPs face food consumption deficits and resort to negative coping strategies such as reducing the number of meals and collecting or selling spirulina and natron, which generally do not provide enough income to ensure adequate food access, especially in a context of high prices and poorly stocked markets. These households also have limited access to food assistance, which has become irregular due to funding challenges that led to the closure of WFP and UNHCR offices in Lac Province and the suspension of WFP air deliveries since July 2025.
In other agricultural and agropastoral provinces, conflicts between herders and farmers, as well as and land disputes which account for 42 percent of community conflicts, are expected to continue until October in the Sahelian zone and through January-February 2026 in the Sudanian zone due to localized rainy season onset delays. An increase in conflict is expected from November on in the event of early livestock transhumance to southern agricultural zones. These community conflicts will likely lead to loss of life, crop and livestock losses, and displacement.
Agricultural progress has gradually normalized since late July. Most of the country is currently experiencing average to above-average rainfall. As of August 20, cumulative rainfall was normal to well above average in the southeast and center-east of the country, with some localized deficits in Tandjilé, Mayo-Kebbi Est and Ouest, Lac Province, Kanem, Bahr El-Ghazal, and parts of Batha. Seasonal forecasts indicate good rainfall through September, albeit with risks of flooding, particularly in Chari-Baguirmi, Guéra, Salamat, Sila, and Ouaddaï provinces. Crop growth stages, though varied by zone and crop, range from tillering for millet and branching for cowpeas in the center, to stem elongation and heading for dune millet in Lac Province, and pod formation for peanuts. In the Sudanian zone, dominant stages include tillering, branching, elongation, heading, and even harvest for maize, with pod formation and early peanut harvest in some areas.
Markets are relatively well supplied, with prices either stable or declining due to trader destocking, subsidized sales by the National Food Security Office (ONASA), increased cross-border flows from Libya, green maize and peanut harvests in central and southern weekly markets, and import facilitation via government suspension of import taxes until December 31 . However, food availability is declining in the Est and in Lac Province, leading to price increases for food items. Looking ahead, seasonal price declines are expected to begin more markedly in September and continue through January 2026 with widespread harvesting across the country.
Improved food consumption is expected from September onward with the arrival of green harvests, though this may be locally delayed in provinces where the rainy season started more than 30 days late, such as Mayo-Kebbi Est, Tandjilé, southern Chari-Baguirmi, Guéra, Salamat, and Sila. Overall, the general harvest period from October to January 2026 is expected to improve food availability, especially for local communities. However, market supply in insecure areas, combined with transportation difficulties due to flooding and high transport costs, will continue to drive localized, slightly elevated food prices and reduced access to food, particularly for Sudanese refugees in eastern provinces and displaced households in Lac Province. For these households, food consumption deficits will persist during the harvest period and beyond January 2026.

Recommended citation: FEWS NET. Chad Key Message Update August 2025: Pronounced food consumption gaps among Sudanese refugees and displaced persons in Lac, 2025.

This Key Message Update provides a high-level analysis of current acute food insecurity conditions and any changes to FEWS NET's latest projection of acute food insecurity outcomes in the specified geography. Learn more here.