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A Case Study

THE LAKE CHAD

BASIN CRISIS
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01. What is the Lake Chad Basin?

02. Schematic Diagram
03. What is happening in the Lake Chad Basin?
04. What is climate change’s effect to the
Lake Chad Basin Crisis?
The Lake Chad Basin of Historically, local people relied on the lake for their
livelihoods, living on the plentiful fish and fertile land.

Central & West Africa As a wetland ecosystem, the lake also benefits the people
in the region through : (1) water purification, (2) groundwater
Lake Chad is a freshwater lake at the
replenishment, (3) stabilization of shorelines and storm
junction of Nigeria, Niger, Chad and
protection, (4) water storage and flood control, (5) pollutant
Cameroon responsible for providing
processing, (6) and support of plants and animals.
water for over 30 million people.
SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM

CLIMATE CRISIS OR POPULATION INAPPROPRIATE PERSISTENT OVER-EXTRACTION AND

CLIMATE CHANGE GROWTH IRRIGATION SYSTEMS DROUGHT EXPLOITATION OF WATER

90% SHRINKING OF LAKE CHAD

X
2009: RISE OF ARMED CONFLICTS

SEVERELY FOOD IN NEED OF HUMANITARIAN LACK OF ACCESS TO

DISPLACED
INSECURE ASSISTANCE TO SURVIVE WATER
WHAT HAS HAPPENED AND IS HAPPENING IN THE LAKE CHAD BASIN?
1970s-1980s
Massive Droughts:
90% Shrinking of Lake
The lake shrunk from being
more than 25,000 sq. km.
during the early 1970s to only
covering around 1,500 sq. km.
by the end of the 1980s.
2009
Violent Extremism
Starting in Nigeria
Conflict between military forces
and non-state armed groups
broke out in northeast Nigeria in
2009. It has since spread into
Cameroon, Chad and Niger,
putting the lake in the middle.
2023
After 14 years of
armed conflict...
High levels of violence continue to
have a devastating impact on more
than 11M people in Cameroon, Chad,
Niger and Nigeria with 5.6M of them
tagged as severely food insecure.
FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE DRYING UP
OF LAKE CHAD (Ackah Isaac, 2020)

CLIMATE CRISIS OR INAPPROPRIATE

CLIMATE CHANGE IRRIGATION SYSTEMS

POPULATION PERSISTENT
GROWTH DROUGHT
OVER-EXTRACTION AND
EXPLOITATION OF WATER
 SA
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CLIMATE CHANGE
“Climate change has been acting as a threat multiplier by
exacerbating interacting conflict drivers in the Lake Chad Basin.”
Initially coined by the CNA’s Military Advisory Board, the threat multiplier concept views climate change as
an exacerbating element within regions of the world that are already volatile and socio-politically unstable.
 TH
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Climate Change on SA
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Raining in northeastern Nigeria has decreased 53%
NE
since the 70s, while Chad has seen warming at 2x
the global rate. Those trends have combined with a
doubling of the population putting lake’s resources
under unprecedented pressure.

As farming and pastoral livelihoods suffer, the

legitimacy of governments has eroded and the
region has become a ripe recruiting ground for
Islamic extremism and the illicit trades in drugs,
arms and people that sustain it.
(SOME OF) BOKO
HARAM’S
RECRUITMENT
STRATEGIES
Maza, Kangdim Dingji; Koldas,
Umut; Aksit, Sait (2020).
Challenges of Countering
Terrorist Recruitment in the
Lake Chad Region: The Case of
Boko Haram. Religions, 11(2),
96–. doi:10.3390/rel11020096
The promise of
better welfare
Using cash
loans traps
and improved
economic Those unable to pay
conditions back the loans are
Boko Haram paying coerced into
as much as $3000 joining the
daily to its organization or
volunteer by
fighters has further
attracted and providing sensitive
motivated information on the
individuals to join Multinational Joint
this organization, Taskforce (MNJTF),
driven by the desire who are responsible
for better economic for combating the
welfare. activities of the
group in Lake Chad
 UN Resolution 2349 (2017)

“THE UNITED NATIONS

SECURITY COUNCIL
recognizes the adverse effects of climate
change and ecological changes among
other factors on the stability of the region,
including through water scarcity, drought,
desertification, land degradation, and food
insecurity, and emphasizes the need for
adequate risk assessments and risk
management strategies by governments and
the United Nations relating to these factors.”
Lukas Rüttinger, Senior Project Manager
at independent think-and-do tank adelphi

“CLIMATE CHANGE DOES

NOT CREATE TERRORISTS
OR CRIMINALS”
“What we are seeing is that
climate change creates a context
within which these groups can
proliferate, grow and rise.”
 THE LAKE CHAD BASIN COMMISSION
(LCBC)
The Lake Chad Basin
Commission (LCBC)
was established on
May 22, 1964, by the
four countries
bordering Lake Chad.
 OBJECTIVE
The LCBC’s goal is to promote
sustainable and equitable management
of lake chad and other shared water
resources, ecological preservation,
and the integration and the protection
of peace and transboundary security in
the lake chad basin.
 SOLUTIONS
Enhance Regional Cooperation
Humanitarian Aid and Support
Good Governance Practices
Policy Reforms
Diversify economies
Water Management and
Conservation
Afforestation and Reforestation
SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM

CLIMATE CRISIS OR POPULATION INAPPROPRIATE PERSISTENT OVER-EXTRACTION AND

CLIMATE CHANGE GROWTH IRRIGATION SYSTEMS DROUGHT EXPLOITATION OF WATER

90% SHRINKING OF LAKE CHAD

2009: RISE OF ARMED CONFLICTS

SEVERELY FOOD IN NEED OF HUMANITARIAN LACK OF ACCESS TO

DISPLACED
INSECURE ASSISTANCE TO SURVIVE WATER