ReliefWeb

Situation

• Chad is a low-income, land-locked country that suffers from chronic food insecurity due to the effects of regional conflict, frequent drought, lack of income-generating opportunities and limited access to social services. An estimated 4.4 million people in Chad require humanitarian assistance, according to the UN.

• Approximately 554,000 refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) reside in Chad because of ongoing conflict in the region, primarily in the Central African Republic (CAR), Nigeria and Sudan, the UN reports. The influx of Chadian returnees from conflict-affected countries also strains local resources and contributes to increased food insecurity among vulnerable communities.

• Following a harsh June–August lean season stemming from Chad’s ongoing economic crisis and localized poor harvests, food security will begin to improve in Chad’s Sahelian belt through January 2019, the Famine Early Warning System reports (FEWS NET). Pastoralist households, which faced Crisis (IPC 3*) levels of acute food insecurity during the lean season, will see conditions improve to Stressed (IPC 2), with healthier herds from adequate rainfall, as well as increased livestock milk production and the availability of wild fruits and vegetables.

• However, acute malnutrition continues to worsen throughout Chad. As of late 2017, countrywide global and severe acute malnutrition levels were 13.9 and 3 percent, respectively, and 12 of Chad’s 23 regions faced global acute malnutrition levels above the emergency threshold of 15 percent. In 2018 to date, admissions of children with severe acute malnutrition to treatment programs have exceeded last year’s admissions by 25 percent.

Response

• USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (FFP) provides in-kind food assistance through the UN World Food Program (WFP) to support general food distributions and nutrition assistance for vulnerable, food-insecure Chadians and refugees from CAR,
  Nigeria and Sudan. FFP also supports the provision of locally and regionally procured food, as well as cash transfers for food and food vouchers, supporting local and regional markets where possible.

• With support from FFP, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) provides ready-to-use therapeutic food to treat children with severe acute malnutrition. UNICEF also collaborates with regional health authorities to improve acute malnutrition treatment services in Chad.