Floods are hindering food aid distribution in eastern provinces hosting refugees

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The eastern provinces in Chad registered 646,796 Sudanese refugees and 213,339 Chadian returnees, averaging 300 new refugees arriving per day (UNHCR). The results of Crisis! (IPC Phase 3!), due to the availability of food assistance, and Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes persist in these provinces. Refugees and host households are experiencing a decline in consumption due to limited food access, a scarcity of work opportunities, and high food prices linked to supply difficulties caused by flooding. In addition to the pressure on natural resources and low availability caused by the influx of refugees, the decrease in food consumption is exacerbated by the flooding, hampering humanitarian assistance operations that had already been curtailed by poor funding mobilization. Food distributions and cash transfers to refugees have been disrupted by flooding, which has prevented access to some refugee camps and sites, particularly the refugee camps in Dougui, Arkoum, and Alacha, where the proportion of households in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) has increased but is still below 20 percent. Most refugees step up collecting wild products, while others turn to begging. In Lac, the floods led to the forced displacement of over 18,000 households, mainly those previously displaced as a result of the security crisis. Faced with financial insecurity of households due to the decline in income from the sale of livestock and other income-generating activities, access to markets for households in the Lac and Western Sahel (BEG and Kanem) is hampered by atypically high upward trends in food prices, limiting their food consumption. Households in these areas and the Sahara are in Crisis (IPC Phase 3).
In most areas of the country, the excess rainfall recorded between late July and early September 2024 affected more than 266,590 households, with 1,495,969 people affected and 341 deaths recorded, according to a joint report by humanitarian organizations and the Chadian government. The report also indicated significant livelihood losses, including 259,000 hectares of destroyed croplands and 66,700 livestock washed away across the country. The destruction of crops will reduce production and income from the sales of agricultural produce. The loss of livestock represents a major loss of income for livestock farmers, limiting their purchasing power. The provinces of Tandjilé, Mayo Kebbi Est, Logone Oriental, Lac, Guéra, Salamat, Ennedi Ouest, Batha, Borkou, Mandoul, Ennedi Est, and Tibesti are the hardest hit by the flooding. Agricultural labor during the rainy season has been significantly disrupted in these localities, particularly in the agricultural and agropastoral zones of the South and Sahel. Crop maintenance labor on rainfed crops, which are in the maturation phase, has been disrupted by floodwater. In addition, nursery production for off-season crops, often completed in September and transplanted in October, is also impacted by flooding, which delays work. In Mayo Kebbi Est, the amount of these nurseries is severely reduced by flood waters. The decrease will lead to a reduction in the area planted with berberé in agricultural zones. As a result, a decline in production for the main season and a possible delay in the off-season planting.
Since the start of the season, regular clashes have been reported between farmers and herders in Moyen Chari and Mandoul. These conflicts have been recurring in recent weeks and are mainly linked to increased competition for natural resources, the expansion of agricultural land, and the growth in livestock numbers. On September 7, 2024, a conflict between herders and farmers led to the deaths of ten people and the burning of huts in Mouroum Goulaye (Mandoul Province). These clashes, isolated depending on the localities attacked but increasingly frequent in the area, significantly disrupt farming activities in the affected zones. In Lac, on September 8, 2024, an incursion of non-state armed groups into a health center in Liwa abducted six members of the nursing staff and killed one person. This attack led to the reinforcement of security measures in the province.
Most markets in the country observed an atypical upward trend in food prices. High food prices compared to the five-year average result from household dependence on the market and are exacerbated by decreased food availability due to the slowdown in market supply and delayed green harvest. Indeed, floods disrupt traffic flow due to road damage. In Lac, the insecurity following recent attacks also contributes to the decrease in market supply. In the eastern provinces hosting refugees, the pressure exerted by the continuing influx of refugees, combined with the low availability of humanitarian food assistance and the depletion of host household stocks, is boosting dependency on markets to unusual levels.

Recommended citation: FEWS NET. Chad Key Message Update September 2024: Floods are hindering food aid distribution in eastern provinces hosting refugees, 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.