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Deep in Africa, Lake Chad
Author: Zhenguo Boy Cake
Proofreader: Koo Hanyi / Editor: Tuna
The Sahara region is often presented in people's minds with images of drought, heat, poverty and chaos. In the Chad basin to its south, it is such a place. The basin is Africa's largest inland basin and is vast and desolate, covering an area of about 2.3 million square kilometers, accounting for more than 8% of the total area of the African continent.
Most of the Chad Basin is covered by semi-arid deserts and savannas
Its extent is much larger than Lake Chad▼
In the heart of the basin, there is a vast lake - Lake Chad. Lakes give this inhospitable region valuable water resources, but they also bring endless disputes to the region.
See Lake Chad from Apollo 7
Because the Lake Chad region is divided into Chad, Nigeria, Cameroon and Niger, the uncoordinated relationship between countries makes it one of the world's most resource-plundering and chronically volatile regions.
The four countries are geographically linked by the Lake Chad region
But there is a constant conflict in communication,
After all, it is difficult to distinguish between you and me, and I will have uneven grievances▼
Constantly changing water resources
Lake Chad is located in the Sahel zone south of the Sahara Desert. Replenishment from rivers and precipitation evokes the greenery and vitality of this arid land, which provides basic water for more than 30 million people living in four surrounding countries.
Find Lake Chad in the image below
This is the most important oasis on the edge of the Sahara Desert in Central Africa▼
River recharge dominates the dynamics of Lake Chad's water sources, with 90% of the water coming from the Chari and Logun rivers. Although there is some supply, the water situation of Lake Chad is not optimistic.
The Lake Chad basin, which is fed mainly by wetter areas in the south
The Chari and Logon rivers are the two main sources of water
(Photo: Wikipedia)
According to the data, the average depth of Lake Chad is only about 2 meters, and the deepest point is only about 12 meters. Such a shallow water depth means that the lake is susceptible to evaporation, loss of water and is also very sensitive to small changes in the water balance.
Lake Chad is shallow and more like a puddle in the middle of a vast desert
If there is not enough water upstream, this shallow puddle will shrink significantly
(Photo: OneImage) ▼
Although Lake Chad has expanded in size in recent years, the persistent arid climate has forced people living farther away to move closer to the lake. In 1976, only 700,000 people lived around the Lake District. Today, about 2.2 million people live around the Lake District. This number is expected to reach 3 million in 2025.
The surrounding environment is getting worse, and the population will naturally migrate to the core area of Lake Chad▼
Hydrology and freshwater availability are fundamental to sustainable development in the Lake Chad region. Because most people living in the Lake Chad basin do not have access to clean drinking water, many suffer from diseases such as hepatitis and cholera caused by poor sanitation and malnutrition.
One side of the soil and water nourishes the other person, and one side of the water and soil can also harm the other person
(Although I love this water and soil deeply, Photo: Shutterstock) ▼
Global climate change has exacerbated the instability of upstream water sources, resulting in the size of Lake Chad fluctuating. For example, in the more than 20 years from 1963 to 1987, the lake area shrank from about 22,000 square kilometers to just 2,500 square kilometers. In 2013, the lake expanded to about 14,000 square kilometers.
Today's area is much smaller than it was in the 1960s
After the 70s, the north and south waters were no longer connected
(Photo: NASA) ▼
Climate change is not only a direct manifestation of the continuous shrinkage of Lake Chad, but also greatly increases environmental uncertainty. These uncertainties include disruptions to irrigation schemes due to changes in water resources, weakening community resilience due to frequent changes, escalating human-land tensions due to reduced water resources, and the activities of armed groups in the region.
The local people are quite fierce, and the militia often clashes fiercely with extremists
(Photo: OneImage) ▼
Among them, the violent expansion of extremism has made the humanitarian situation in the region increasingly tense, and the region continues to face crises from all sides.
The security situation is fraught with danger
Lake Chad was once also a regional "CBD", an important trading post for trans-Saharan trade and had periods of prosperity in history. People living around the Lake District move and trade freely across borders.
Animals and animals also have "friendly interaction" (Photo: OneImage)▼
Biological exchanges around the lake area are also thriving, with 179 species of fish in the Lake Chad basin and 120 species in Lake Chad alone. Abundant fish stocks are the livelihood of local fishermen and farmers.
Elephants playing in wetlands, cows with mushrooms on their heads, and water birds that roost in lakes
(Lake Chad Basin HD beautiful picture, picture: OneImage) ▼
However, the vibrant and lively scene has been hit hard by the emergence of various organizations. The Lake Chad basin involves seven countries (Algeria, Cameroon, Central Africa, Chad, Libya, Niger and Nigeria), and the more countries it manages, the more it is prone to many three-way zones, and individual forces will develop and grow between these gaps.
It's really hard to master balance (Figure: OneImage)▼
The continuing instability in the Lake Chad region is caused by Boko Haram's extremist group. In 2002, Mohammed Yusuf announced the establishment of Boko Haram extremist group in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State in northeastern Nigeria.
The organization's repeated attacks and vicious violence in the Lake Chad region have had an irreversible negative impact on the lives of the people around it, disrupting the stable life of other countries not only within its own country but also across national borders.
Civil strife in Libya has led to a southward flow of weapons and armaments into the Sahel
Mali, Nigeria and neighboring countries have all suffered▼
In the early hours of July 31, 2020, Boko Haram extremist group launched an attack on a village in Lake province in Chad's western border region, claiming seven civilians and killing at least 10. Such attacks on civilians and military personnel are not uncommon in the Lake Chad region.
Boko Haram has carried out multiple attacks every year since its inception
This has caused a large number of casualties and seriously affected the stable development of this region
(Photo: Flickr)
Prolonged atrocities have wreaked havoc on local security, forcing many people to flee their homes and be displaced. Boko Haram extremist groups have also exploited the fact that Lake Chad is small and large in its attacks, using small islands on the lake as hiding places when water is low.
The brutal Boko Haram extremist group not only uses the favorable terrain around the lake to launch offensives, but also induces vulnerable people who cannot make a basic livelihood to join as so-called "jihadists" to increase the size of the group. As a result, a large number of poor civilians have died and turned into cannon fodder.
Young girls who were caught at a young age in the organization's hiding place
Some later became the de facto wives of members of the organization
Produce offspring for members of the organization
(In addition to the flesh, there is also the life after that, Photo: TEMPI) ▼
Nearly a third of the deaths recorded in Nigeria in the decade between 2006 and 2016 came from clashes between armed opposition, national security forces and community self-defense groups in the northeast of the country, the data showed. Lake Chad has ceased to be a refuge for people to recuperate, but a source of armed conflict.
At the high-level event on the humanitarian situation in the Lake Chad region, United Nations Under-Secretary-General Amina Mohammed mentioned that some 2.3 million people are currently displaced and 500,000 children suffer from severe acute malnutrition in the land of Lake Chad. The U.N. refugee agency also said about 10 million people living in the Lake Chad region were in need of humanitarian assistance.
Rather be a peaceful dog than a troubled person (Picture: OnePicture Network)▼
This is despite the humanitarian assistance provided by the international community that can alleviate the problem of feeding some people. However, refugee stress and production disruptions are ongoing disasters, and the fragile environment on the ground is also indirectly under great pressure.
A refugee settlement in Gwoza
It was used by Boko Haram as a caliphate base in 2015
(Flowing soldiers and bandits, ironclad refugee camps, Photo: OneImage) ▼
A staggered area of where to go
The future of the Lake Chad region depends on complex multiple relationships – a power struggle between security forces, pro-government militias and the armed opposition; local farmers, herders, fishermen and hunters compete for natural resources; As well as disputes between different sects such as Islam and Christianity, none of which is a fuel-efficient lamp.
Lake Chad is in an area where Islam and Christianity are at loggerheads
The contradictions between countries, religions, nationalities, tribes, etc. are even worse, and it is inevitable that peace will not be peaceful
Because of its location on the periphery of countries and its long-term lack of control, people living in the Lake Chad region have a lower sense of national identity than they do in the lake area. Lake Chad brings hope and vitality to the people here, but the humans who depend on it for food are full of contradictions and conflicts. How to solve complex situations is a question that people need to think about.
Even if the prosperity of the past is won back, what should be used to consolidate it?
(Photo: LCBC) ▼
First, it is a rational treatment of transboundary environmental issues. This includes water pollution control, restoration of species and ecosystem diversity, and dredging of transboundary river siltation.
Transboundary environmental issues surrounding Lake Chad, 1964. Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria joined forces to form the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC). Neighbouring Central Africa and Libya also joined the committee in 1996 and 2008, respectively.
LCBC official website▼
The work of the Lake Chad Basin Commission covers three major aspects: water resources management, environmental resource management and regional peace and security in the Lake Chad Basin. The Commission developed the LCBC Convention and worked to protect Lake Chad with the goal of ensuring the efficient use of natural resources such as land and water resources in the basin.
How to maintain the environment of Lake Chad and the life safety of the surrounding residents
It is a common problem faced by several countries, and it is impossible to fight alone
(Photo: LCBC) ▼
However, it is regrettable that the LCBC Convention is not supported by the legislation of these countries. To date, the four participating member countries and development partners have been poorly involved and poorly funded in policy development and transboundary management of the Lake Area.
There is no well-developed water management system
Everyone will continue to be "nature's porters"
(Female family members who go out to fetch water, Photo: Shutterstock)
The second is to promote effective environmental projects. It is necessary to establish some common cause in order to integrate the interests of the various parties involved.
For example, the Lake Chad Basin Management Commission and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP-GEF) and the plan to divert water from the Ubangi River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Lake Chad region are progressing in an orderly manner.
Project workers in the field (Photo: LCBC)▼
In addition, the intervention of conservation agriculture can further improve land utilization. The limited water sources in the Lake Chad region have long been used inefficiently or even wasted. The promotion of drip and sprinkler irrigation systems for dryland agriculture, the use of mulching and no-till measures to reduce evapotranspiration, etc., are huge improvements to local agriculture.
No amount of water can afford to waste, not to mention not much
(It's time to show off the real technology!) Photo: LCBC) ▼
Finally, humanitarian aid organizations remain essential. Humanitarian assistance, judicial enforcement and counter-extremism operations by relevant United Nations agencies in the Lake Chad Basin cannot solve the root causes, but they can contain the deterioration of the situation.
LCBC provides economic assistance to the Chad region through the establishment of a fund by leading international organizations
(Photo: LCBC) ▼
The Lake Chad region, located at the crossroads of many countries, is an oasis of abundance and the focus of right and wrong in the wider region. It is almost impossible for people who make a living here to solve complex Lake District problems on their own. In essence, its future depends on the willingness and ability of neighboring countries and local forces to seek common ground while reserving differences.
Let the pearl of Lake Chad, the hinterland, become Africa's teardrop
(Photo: Shutterstock)
Bibliography:
1. Nagarajan, C., Pohl, B., Rüttinger, L., Sylvestre, F., Vivekananda, J., Wall, M., & Wolfmaier, S. (2018). Climate-fragility profile: Lake Chad basin. Berlin: adelphi, 32.
2. Musa, I. K., Bila, M., Mana, B., & Mahaman, C. (2008). Saving lake chad. Proc. of Sirte roundtable, Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) and International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID), 17 December, Libya.
3. https://cblt.org/
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boko_Haram
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chad_Basin
*The content of this article is provided by the author and does not represent the position of the Earth Knowledge Bureau
Cover: Shutterstock
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