(Ecofin Agency) - In June 2022, Chad declared a food emergency due to the continued deterioration of the nutritional situation in the country. According to the World Bank, nearly one million Chadians are food insecure.

Chad will receive US$105 million in financial support from the World Bank for social programs. The support was announced by Chadian authorities in a release issued on Monday, October 17. 

The agreement, which was signed by the Chadian Minister of Economy Moussa Batraki, is part of the World Bank’s West Africa Food Systems Resilience Program (FSRP-2). It aims to improve the effectiveness of food crisis prevention in the Central African country, while “strengthening the adaptive capacity of the productive base in a context marked by climate change.”

According to the authorities, the FSRP-2 will reach at least 600,000 direct beneficiaries, “including small producers, agricultural processors, micro as well as small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises, of which at least 30% of the beneficiaries will be young people, and 40% women.” In addition, this amount will be added to the funding of the Agricultural Productivity and Climate Resilience Project (PROPAD) currently underway in the country.

On June 9, 2022, the World Bank published an article indicating that “an estimate” of 970,000 Chadians are food insecure. "Drop in production, high commodity prices, and disruption of supply chains, have increased an already critical state of vulnerability and needs of the population. Food products are becoming scarce in local markets," the institution explained. A few days earlier, Chadian authorities had declared a “food emergency.”