A woman harvests spirulina, in Bol, the capital of Lac Region. Spirulina is a nutritious alga that has been cultivated in Chad for centuries and is often dried into cakes, known locally as « dihé ».
A man washes a blanket in a pond, whose bank is littered with empty water bottles, in the Daresalam neighbourhood of N’Djamena, the capital.
Mariam, 15, in the field her family cultivates next to her home in the village of Banala, Guera province. ” I want to be a farmer. I want to prevent famine here. If I learn farming I can change the way we farm, we save our grains, we can save lives.”
Toma, 22, carries her daughter Sadia, 9 months, and a bundle containing therapeutic food as she gets back home from the health center to the village of Djerkatche, Guera province.
A donkey stands by while girls get water from a UNICEF supported pedal-activated pump in the village of Game, Guera province.
A woman cleans dishes as she stands in water in a flooded area outside her home in the Walia neighborhood of N’Djamena.
People carry buckets of water their filled from a half-submerged water pump in a flooded area of the Walia neighborhood of N’Djamena.
Mariam, 15, and Aljema, 8, carrying their 10-month-old twin sisters Fatouma and Toma (not visible) in sling pouches, make their way home to the village of Banala.
(left-right) Aljema, 8, holding her 10-month-old sister, Toma, stands with their mother, Kumani, who is holding Toma’s twin sister, Fatouma, in the field the family cultivates next to their home, in the village of Banala in Guera Region.
A smiling boy carries bundles of harvested peanuts plants from a field, in the village of Game in Guera Region.
Women shop at a market selling fresh produce and other foodstuffs in the city of Abéché, capital of Ouaddaï Region.
Children and adults make their way to an outreach health session taking place in to their community, in Kelingan Village in Ouaddaï Region, about 10 kilometres from the city of Abéché the region’s capital.
Residents gather by a large tree to attend an outreach health session in Kelingan Village in Ouaddaï Region, about 10 kilometres from the city of Abéché the region’s capital.
Children and women draw water at a wadi (a temporary water source dependent on rainfall) on the outskirts of Kelingan Village in Ouaddaï Region.
A woman fill a trough with water for animals to drink, at a wadi (a temporary water source dependent on rainfall) on the outskirts of Kelingan Village in Ouaddaï Region.
Healthy and withered millet stalks stand in a field on the outskirts of Kelingan Village in Ouaddaï Region
Chad
Mappers Biography
A group of ten young people from Moundou, in southern Chad, participated in the Digital Mapping training before heading down to the field to identify and document the problems in their communities. “It is us, the youth, who should raise awareness about the isues undermining our society and advocate for positive change. We must also inform the Government and Civil authorities to find solutions to the problems we identify during our mapping. Let’s get to work!” said Nehemiah, one of the young reporters who participated in this innovative initiative.
Climatic conditions of the country
Chad is located in North Central Africa, measuring 1,284,000 square kilometres, nearly twice the size of France. Chad has a hot and sub-tropical climate, though temperatures do vary depending on area. The north of Chad extends well into the arid Sahara desert, whilst the south has a much wetter, and typically tropical, climate. The southern rainy season runs May-October, and the central rains from June-September. The north has very little rain all year and the dry season is often windy, and cooler during the evenings.
Mean temperatures are similar across most of the country at 25‐30°C, and only differ substantially in the cooler mountainous regions of the north at 15‐25°C. However, seasonal variations are large, and differ in their patterns for different parts of the country.
Each year, the length of the rainy season can vary considerably (by more than 30%). This means it is common for dry years to alternate with wet years. However, meteorologists say rain patterns are changing across the Sahel and there are more frequent dry spells.
Bordered by Chad, Niger, Nigeria, and Cameroon, Lake Chad currently covers only 1,350 square kilometers, down from 25,000 square kilometers in 1963. Because of the way it has shrunk dramatically in recent decades, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations have labelled the lake an ecological catastrophe.