Chad’s government is taking emergency steps to protect its food supply after months of intense heat and drought devastated harvests across the nation. In a decree issued late Wednesday, Finance Minister Tahir Hamid Nguilin announced that wheat, corn, millet, rice, livestock feed and agricultural equipment will be exempt from import duties and taxes.
At the same time, Commerce Minister Mathieu Guibolo Fanga signed a separate decree banning the export of millet, corn, rice, sorghum, wheat and cotton seed. The measures are intended to keep essential grains within the country and avoid famine in the hardest‑hit central, eastern and northern regions, according to Keda Ballah, Chad’s minister of agricultural production and industrialization.
Government rationale and on‑the‑ground impact
Ballah told Reuters that the government is also encouraging farmers to grow off‑season crops in irrigated areas as a way to mitigate the shortage. “This is the only way to prevent famine in certain regions, and we are aware of that,” he said.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization warned earlier this week that repeated dry spells between July and mid‑August have raised serious concerns about crop development and yields. The World Food Programme previously projected that more than three million people could face acute food insecurity during the June‑August lean season.
Voices from affected communities
Mahamat Moussa Ali, a farmer in the west‑central province of Chari‑Baguirmi, said drought wiped out 12 hectares of his corn crop. He criticized the government for failing to warn farmers about the heatwave, leaving them unprepared. “What concerns authorities is the food shortage in the markets … We’re definitely going to starve because, in our community, no farmer has been spared,” he said.
Djibrilla Abba Bello, a nomadic herder from the Mayo‑Kebbi Ouest region, described how streams and ponds that normally supply water for livestock have dried up. “Our animals are losing weight, producing less milk and having trouble walking long distances … Some of us have sought refuge in the Central African Republic despite the insecurity there: they chose to take the risk for the sake of their herds,” he explained.
These emergency policies reflect Chad’s urgent effort to keep staple foods available and to support farmers and herders as the drought continues to threaten livelihoods across the country.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
