Crisis in Chad: food insecurity, water scarcity and inadequate sanitation
- hh7003
- Oct 31, 2025
- 4 min read
By Owen Armentrout
October 31, 2025
Chad has been experiencing severe food insecurity and water scarcity, combined with insufficient sanitation services, for several years now. The main contributors to this disaster have been flooding, drought, conflict, and inadequate infrastructure.
This is now Chad’s sixth consecutive year facing crisis levels of hunger, according to the World Food Programme.
This crisis has been exacerbated by the high number of refugees entering the country from Sudan, the Central African Republic, Nigeria, Cameroon, etc., of which there are over 1.45 million, according to the UNHCR. Nearly 90% of these refugees are women and children, according to the World Health Organization.
Furthermore, there are currently around 219,000 internally displaced Chadians, according to the WFP.
Not to mention that 57% of Chad’s total population is made up of children, according to UNICEF.
Food Insecurity
Chad is currently the sixth most food-insecure country in the world, according to Concern Worldwide.
The WFP reports there are currently over 3.4 million Chadians facing extreme hunger, a 240% increase since 2020.
UNICEF has stated that there are over 2 million children in need of treatment for severe wasting, which is the most life-threatening stage of malnutrition. Additionally, according to the Global Nutrition Report, 31.1% of children under the age of 5 are stunted.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reports, "The 2024/25 agricultural season is marked by the destruction of large areas of sown land – 819 370 ha – mainly due to floods, plant pests and straying livestock.”
Conflict has also disrupted agriculture. The International Crisis Group has reported that between 2021 and 2024, farmer-herder conflict claimed the lives of over 1,000 Chadians and left more than 2,000 injured. According to the Famine Early Warning System, referring to agropastoral clashes, “Since May 2025, 42 people were killed in Logone Occidental, 16 in Ouaddaï, 17 in Mayo Kebbi Ouest, and six in Salamat due to these conflicts.”
FEWS also reported that as of late June, only 11.8% of people earmarked for Chad’s 2025 humanitarian assistance plan had received food aid.
The WFP reported that between June and August 2024, they had disbursed food, cash, and nutritional support to up to 1 million people and provided aid to an additional 400,000 people who had been impacted by flooding. Furthermore, they aim to assist 1 million breastfeeding and pregnant women, along with children aged 6-59 months, with treatment for malnutrition.
According to the FAO, in 2024, the UN provided 58.7 tons of crops and 3.5 tons of vegetable seed to over 22,800 households in Chad. Subsequently, 42,660 tons of staple foods and 14,400 tons of fruits and vegetables were cultivated. 30% was eaten, and the remnants were sold for more than $5 million and distributed in average payments of $280 per household; enough to supply food for up to six months.
In early 2025, the European Commission stated that they had allocated Chad 74.5 million euros for humanitarian assistance.
According to UNICEF, in April, their organization appealed for $114.2 million in aid for Chad, over $50 million of which would be allotted for nutritional support; more than $24 million would also be devoted to WASH. However, only 34% of funding has been secured.
Water Scarcity & Sanitation
According to the Interactive Country Fiches, “Chad has the third-lowest level of access to safe water and the lowest level of access to adequate sanitation in all of Africa.”
Only 52% of Chad’s population has basic access to drinking water, according to UNICEF. However, Gannet’s Data Friendly Space has reported that only 18% have access to safely managed sources, and merely 10% of Chadians have access to basic sanitation.
Doctors Without Borders has stated, “In refugee camps scattered across Ouaddaï, Wadi Fira, and Ennedi Est provinces, most refugees are still receiving far less than the recommended 20 liters (nearly 5 gallons) of clean water per day. The water crisis is hardest on women and children.”
According to UNICEF, Chad’s mortality rate for children under the age of five is around 1 in 10. Gannet’s DFS has stated that malaria is the leading cause of these deaths, but acknowledges that insufficient sanitation, stagnant water, and overcrowded camps compound the risk of transmission.
Additionally, according to UNICEF, 68% of the population practices open defecation. This is due in part to the lack of latrines in refugee camps; according to DWB, “many camps [are] failing to meet the minimum standard of 1 [latrine] for every 50 people.”
With such a high rate of flooding, open defection, and a lack of properly managed water sources, waterborne disease has wreaked havoc; there have been outbreaks of hepatitis E, cholera, typhoid, etc. According to the WHO, between January and April of 2024, there were 2,092 suspected cases of hepatitis E.
Regarding the recent outbreak of cholera, the chief of WASH in Chad, Oumar Doumbouya, has said, “As of the 20th of October, we have 2,770 cases of cholera and 156 deaths, among which you have 69 in communities... the cholera is active in three provinces, in Ouaddaï, Sila and Guéra.”
In 2024, the International Water Association reported that more than 78% of the population in N'Djamena, Chad’s capital city, obtained water through hand pumps.
Doumbouya has said that UNICEF is working to improve water sources across the nation, “just to give you a figure, we have been recently working on trying to upgrade water points in Chad to put this from a simple hand pump to a solar motorized water supply system, and basically, we were able to identify more than 5,000 water points that needed to be upgraded.”
UNICEF has reported that in February 2024, their organization facilitated funding for two water treatment units to be installed in Baga Sola and Bol; combined they provide 20 liters of water per person for 4,000 people each day.
DWB has done immense work to help remedy the situation in refugee camps. According to DWB, “In the last two years, MSF [DWB] treated 43,908 patients for acute malnutrition and responded to hepatitis E and typhoid outbreaks in Adré, Aboutengue, and Metché.” Furthermore, in the Adré transit camp, water systems constructed by DWB produced 654,000 liters of water each day in May. DWB also restored 229 latrines, built another 80 meant for long-term use, and cleaned out 539 existing ones in Adré.
The battle against food insecurity, water scarcity, and poor sanitation is far from over, but with the help of international organizations, Chad is gaining ground every day.
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