Floods in Chad: Tens of thousands of livestock drowned

FRANCE 24 English

Visit our website: http://www.france24.com  Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/France24_en

Transcript

00:00Weeks after the heavy rains, Acher Babalger is wading through mud in his completely flooded

00:07field.

00:08The farmer has lost 18 of his 24 hectares of cultivated land, a huge disaster for him

00:14and his family.

00:15Here I lost 3 hectares of sesame, 14 hectares of millet and 1.5 hectares of peanuts and

00:24okra.

00:25That accounts for the 18 hectares that were destroyed.

00:31These losses amount to nearly 6,000 euros in profits that have gone.

00:34Pesticides, fertilizers and seeds are all lost.

00:38On top of that, we have yet to assess the losses related to the livestock.

00:43That's a massive loss in a country where most people earn less than 80 euros per month.

00:49Acher can only assess the damage and try to reach out to the Chadian authorities.

00:54So far, he has received no assistance from the state.

00:58We hear on the radio that the Ministry of Agriculture has done this or has done that.

01:03But we can't find a way to get in touch with them or present our case to the right office

01:08so that we can receive support.

01:12The government has been able to provide compensation to some farmers since the disaster began and

01:18continues to reinforce emergency dikes along the Chari River.

01:22However, due to a lack of resources, its efforts heavily rely on limited support from the UN.

01:28I think we have maximized the resources available to us, but it really requires a lot of funding.

01:38If these areas are not secured, we will face a food security problem.

01:43We need to protect their means of production and their livelihoods while ensuring the safety

01:49of their homes.

01:51For us, it's about taking action that leads to sustainable solutions.

01:58According to the United Nations, 25% of Chad's cultivated arable land has been destroyed

02:05this year.

02:06A shortfall of 350,000 tons of agricultural products will soon strike the markets, all

02:13while more than 3 million people were already facing food insecurity in the country before

02:19the rains.

Category

Transcript

Recommended