The Batha region in central Chad has the highest food insecurity rate in the country, with a global acute malnutrition rate of 33.7%, mainly due to unpredictable rainfall in the whole Sahel band. The year 2009 was struck with a disastrous drought, and the 2010 harvest was partially destroyed by flooding. Such shocks have had devastating effects on the local economy, mainly for the poorest farmers, who are ridden with a chronic cycle of debt at each lean period.

No longer able to work in sustained physical activity on his southern Oum Hadjer lots, 71 year-old Yaya Ali can only cover his family’s food needs for four months. The remainder of the year sees the rest of the household restrict its food diet and survive thanks to daily work and rope and mat weaving. After the disastrous 2009 campaign that considerably weakened the most vulnerable households’ capacity for resilience, their food security is becoming increasingly precarious.

With the first Cash programming project in Chad, supported by the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Department and the World Food Programme, ACTED has been fighting food deficiency with monthly cash or food distributions, in exchange for beneficiary households’ participation in community benefit work. The most vulnerable households, including Yaya Ali’s, were first provided with unconditional cash transfers. With the first half of the allowance, Yaya Ali was able to buy a sack of millet and condiments, covering 40 days of the household’s food needs during the lean period (between two harvests).

Community participation triggers a successful recovery

Access to water is another crucial problem for East Batha populations. The town of Oum Hadjer, which means “sea of rocks” in Arabic, rests upon a rocky slab which makes all drilling extremely difficult for local populations, most of whom have to collect water from the Batha River. Cash programming activities also provide a partial response to water provision issues in the area, notably through the fitting of ponds, dams, dykes and canals. Project beneficiary Faday Camis tells of her experience: “With ACTED’s support, we were able to deepen and extend a canal in our neighborhood that links a water collection pond to a larger source. This provided us with a water point for livestock and crops during the dry season, while reducing flooding problems in the area. Such a collective effort had had a positive impact on the most vulnerable among us, but also for the whole south Oum Hadjer community.

The project’s success relies first and foremost on the active participation of local populations in its implementation. Each village in the area of intervention collaborated with ACTED in defining vulnerable beneficiary selection criteria, and the extent of work needed. The project allowed ACTED Chad’s monitoring and evaluation team to acquire crucial experience for upgrading its capacity in the future. After a considerable beneficiary identification campaign, covering 4,800 households in Oum Hadjer and nearby districts, the team monitored cash transfers and food market price fluctuation monthly. Backed by two parallel socioeconomic studies, ACTED is evaluating the project’s impact and the population’s fluctuating needs, with a view to extending interventions in Batha more precisely and sustainably.