ACTED Chad Supporting food security for the local populations around Abéché: a local development programme in a cross border humanitarian context

For the past 10 months ACTED has implemented a project of food security for the rural populations around Abéché, in partnership with the European Commission (EuropeAid). This programme is very particular in a context where most humanitarian agencies only provide relief for the refugees and displaced populations.

This programme dedicated to supporting local development focuses on all aspects of food security, ranging from cereal and domestic crop production, veterinary care and follow up for the cattle, awareness raising to the risks of malnutrition, food habits, or rural restructuration thanks to local governance and rural organisations.

The variety of cereals available in the department being limited, ACTED first worked at popularizing new seeding and cultivation techniques within the communities.

After the rain season, once the harvesting over, the programme is now entering a second phase focusing on the set up of community shops, of tree nurseries and orchards, and of autonomous productive and transformation organisations. ACTED will also pursue the support and capacity building provided to the farmers association in order to guarantee the sustainability of its intervention.

When ACTED staff started working in the zone, things were at first pretty difficult: local people were quite suspicious and women could not be approached, let it be when completely veiled and in company of an Imam. As of today, ACTED’s work has been fruitful: local farmers associations are under way, seeds have been distributed and are growing, and trust has built progressively among the communities.

This programme will improve in the long term the food security and the living conditions of 28 local communities (529 people, including 211 women) and thereof of all of the 46,000 inhabitants of the canton.

Category: News on December 19th, 2008