Effects of drought in Chad – 2010 photo gallery

Resources were already scarce, and the 2011 drought, on top of poor infrastructure, like lack of wells, means that needs are ever more pressing.

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The drought of 2009 showed its most bitter face in the Sahelian regions of Kanem, Bahr-El-Gazal, Hajer Lamis, Batha and Guéra, Chad.
Family granaries were empty. The harvest of 2009 was not good, dropping by 34% from the previous year. There is no surplus food, and no animals to sell.
The prices in markets rose exorbitantly due to high demand and short supply of cereals, especially millet, the staple food.
Despite a ban on the collection of firewood, people still fetched wood to sell, in order to earn some money to buy essential food.
In April 2010, about 800,000 people were in a precarious situation. Estimates at the time predicted that this number was likely to increase to 2 million – 18% of the population.
In Djay, women dug the earth to find the queen ant and collect all the seeds and grains that the ants had stored in their anthills.
Water is another scarce resource. Public sources have dried up and the local people open new wells without taking any hygienic measures.
The lack of rain forced the herders and animals to travel greater distances to find pasture, weaking the animals and increasing their death rate.