Atypical rise in food prices due to early depletion of food stocks and disruption of internal and cross-border flows

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Sudanese refugees and Chadian returnees, as well as very poor and poor host households in Ouaddai, Sila, and Wadi Fira, are in Crisis (IPC Phase 3) due to continued influxes reinforcing livelihood degradation coupled with pressure on scarce resources and competition for scarce opportunities with host households. Due to the early depletion of households’ food stocks and the continuing deterioration of livelihoods, Lac populations are facing consumption deficits. Households in these areas are in an acute food insecurity Crisis (IPC Phase 3). Food consumption gaps are also reported in the western Sahel provinces (BEG, Kanem) due to limited food access by low-income earners in the face of atypical price rises in the cereal markets on which they depend for their consumption. Very poor and poor households in the Sahara (Tibesti, West Ennedi) face consumption deficits due to the disruption of the inflow of manufactured food products from Libya. The ban by the government on artisanal gold panning, one of the area's sources of income, exacerbates the decrease in income. In Ennedi Est, the halt in inflows from Sudan is exacerbating the precarious food situation in the province. They are in Crisis (IPC Phase 3).
The food assistance needs of refugees and returnees in the eastern provinces are increasing, and can’t cover their food consumption requirements due to the daily influx of refugees, estimated by the UNHCR at 250 to 400 new arrivals per day. The food security situation is deteriorating due to the pressure on supplies caused by the constant influx. In addition, due to the scarcity of job opportunities, many refugees are developing crisis strategies (selling clothes and household items, carpentry, and shelters) to purchase food in the markets or to return to localities close to the borders in search of wild foods, despite the security risks.
Atypical upward trends in food prices compared with the five-year average are reported on most markets. Following the early depletion of household cereal stocks in the Sahelian zone, significant cereal flows are being observed from the Sudanian zone to northern localities. In the refugee-hosting provinces of eastern Chad (Ouaddaï and Sila), demand pressure is further accentuated by the non-existence of incoming flows of food products from Sudan. High transport costs induced by fuel price hikes resulting from recurrent shortages exacerbate food price increases.
The scarcity of pasture in northern areas, resulting from the irregular distribution of rainfall and long dry spells, forces pastoralists to make an early ascent towards southern areas, resulting in a drop in the availability of milk and dairy products in pastoral localities such as northern Kanem and BEG. In the north, the poor body condition of animals due to a lack of vegetation cover reduces their market value, resulting in a drop in the purchasing power of pastoral households and limiting their access to food products.

Recommended citation: FEWS NET. Chad Key Message Update January 2024: Atypical rise in food prices due to early depletion of food stocks and disruption of internal and cross-border flows, 2024.

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.