Strategies to prevent Lake Chad from drying up

It is no longer a secret that the Lake Chad Basin has experienced a drastic fall in its area.

However, some strategies to solve the issue has come up and would be worked on with immediate effect.

In a few decades, the active space increased from 25,000 km2 to 8000 km2 today. The reports of the missions carried out by experts on the ground in the framework of information and awareness of all stakeholders on the management of natural resources in the Lake Chad Basin have identified several problems with the water.

Among other variabilities of the hydraulic system included the non-availability of water, pollution of water by the activities of oil companies and factories in the cities of Sarh, Moundou and N'Djamena in Chad, sediment deposition and erosion causing the destruction of the banks leading to a huge loss of water.

According to the observation made by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the root causes of these problems are: the absence of the concept of sustainable development on the political agenda of the Member States, the low level of education and awareness on environmental issues, population pressure and lack of coordination between actors.

All these problems, in time, cause low local access to water, crop failures, losses in livestock production, in fishing, etc. The socio-economic consequences of this impact lead to food insecurity and precariousness of people's health. In this area, the "water" resource is becoming increasingly scarce.

Yet we need this resource for livestock activities, fishing. and farming practiced there. Paradoxically, water is scarce, but the population increases, as an immediate result, the birth of conflicts given the needs that increase.

But the water that is available, although was scarce, is being misused by various actors because of the competition that exists. According to Aicha Moussa, representative of IUCN in Maroua, "everyone wants to monopolize this resource, so it becomes a real problem that must be addressed," she said.

Today, many development programs are implemented in this locality as part of the fight against poverty. These include among others: Sustainable Development Program of the Lake Chad Basin (PRODEBALT), the Emergency Response Project against flooding (Pulci), in the Far North, funded at FCFA 54 billion through the World Bank, etc. Not forgetting the safe deployment as part of the fight against terrorist cult Boko Haram.