Jane Hahn Photography

groundwater crisis (ongoing): lake chad basin: chad

While the people of the Lake Chad Basin continue to battle Boko Haram, one of the world's deadliest terrorist groups, another enemy has been steadily advancing for decades. The encroaching Sahara desert is threatening the livelihoods of more than 30 million people who depend on the basin for survival, exacerbating the current man-made crisis that has displaced over 2.4 million across Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon. Warnings from the government and aid organizations are clear that if and when Boko Haram is defeated, another crisis looms over this war-torn area and will further destabilize this already fragile region. 

Lake Chad has decreased in size by almost 90 percent in the last 60 years. Historical evidence and local knowledge has proven that the level of the lake fluctuates drastically over long periods of time but desertification, deforestation, climate change, resource mismanagement and massive numbers of displaced persons are not allowing the basin to replenish itself. Whole villages have followed the shrinking shoreline for decades, following the lush fertile landscape as it moves farther away from their original homes. People living in villages along the lakeshore have watched large pools of water reduced over time revealing farmable land. But that too began to disappear as increasing winds pushed sand in from the desert. Now the dry Sahel lies just beyond the lush greenery of the land surrounding the lake, as the waters of Lake Chad meet the desert after just a few hundred feet. 

(Published-National Geographic 2017) 

  • An aerial view of the islands of Lake Chad, Chad
  • Women wait for fishermen to arrive with their morning catch to clean and sell at the market on the shores of Lake Chad in Tagal Village, Baga Sola, Chad.In late 2014, Boko Haram attacks began to spread beyond the borders of Nigeria into the neighboring countries that border Lake Chad. Inhabitants of the many small islands within the lake fled to the mainland as multinational forces battled the militants. Displaced families who survived the violence were left with little prospects due to the lack of farmable land and the many security restrictions on the areas of the lake where they could fish leaving the population to depend on irregular food distributions from underfunded aid organizations and the charity of others.
  • Fisherman Abakar Umaru, 40, cooks fish on his boat on the shores of Lake Chad in Tagal Village, Baga Sola, Chad on February 15, 2017. Umaru is originally from Dorom Baga, Nigeria but fled across the lake to Baga Sola in January 2015 after Boko Haram attacked his village. There are over 150 displaced fishermen in Tagal Village trying to support their families with a limited area to fish due to insecurity and a smaller market now that the route to Nigeria is impassable. For the last two years the vital lifeline between Chad and Nigeria has been cut off due to the Boko Haram crisis, leaving fishermen, farmers and traders without their largest market - Maiduguri, Nigeria. Dozens of boats used to cross the narrow waterways of the lake each day from Baga Sola bringing goods across the border. Now most of the waterways are impassable leaving much of the population to depend on under-funded aid organizations and the charity of others.
  • Women wait for fishermen to arrive with their morning catch to clean and sell at the market on the shores of Lake Chad in Tagal Village, Baga Sola, Chad.In late 2014, Boko Haram attacks began to spread beyond the borders of Nigeria into the neighboring countries that border Lake Chad. Inhabitants of the many small islands within the lake fled to the mainland as multinational forces battled the militants. Displaced families who survived the violence were left with little prospects due to the lack of farmable land and the many security restrictions on the areas of the lake where they could fish leaving the population to depend on irregular food distributions from underfunded aid organizations and the charity of others.
  • Men take shade under a tree on the shores of Lake Chad, in Tagal Village in Baga Sola, Chad.
  • Oasis
  • Amadou Allay, 22, walks through an area of the Lake Chad basin that was once covered in water over 30 years ago, but has now been overtaken by sand, in Broumbya Village outside of Baga Sola, Chad February 2017. Villagers recalled building a dyke to separate the water from farmland but as years passed, the farmland began to dry and the shores of the lake began to recede and now all that remain are sand and desert succulents. Present day Broumbya Village lies over 4km away from the shores of the lake and the distance continues to grow as the desert encroaches the basin. Due to recent security constraints villagers cannot move to find new farmland therefore they must rely on irregular food distributions from under funded aid organizations.
  • A boy drinks water directly out of Lake Chad at what was once the port of Baga Sola, Chad. Due to natural deposits of sodium found around the Lake Chad Basin, many find that the newly dug bore holes contain too high salt content to drink and continue to drink the contaminated waters from the lake contributing to the many illness children suffer from on top of a growing food crisis. The port was once able to dock large boats to carry good across to Nigeria but as the level of the lake decreased, only small boats can pass through the narrow waterways.
  • Women clean fish shores of Lake Chad in Tagal Village, Baga Sola, Chad.In late 2014, Boko Haram attacks began to spread beyond the borders of Nigeria into the neighboring countries that border Lake Chad. Inhabitants of the many small islands along the lake fled to the mainland as multinational forces battled the militants. Displaced families who survived the violence were left with little prospects due to the lack of farmable land and the many restrictions on the areas of the lake where they could fish, leaving the population to depend on irregular food distributions from aid agencies and the charity of others.
  • Babay Moussa, 23, fans Abakar, 2, who suffers from a pulmonary condition that has been complicated by malnutrition at the International Rescue Committee Clinic in Liwa, Chad.Lake Chad has decreased in size by almost 90 percent in the last 60 years. Historical evidence and local knowledge has proven that the level of the lake fluctuates drastically over long periods of time but desertification, deforestation, climate change, resource mismanagement and massive numbers of displaced persons are not allowing the basin to replenish itself. Whole villages have followed the shrinking shoreline for decades, following the lush fertile landscape as it moves farther away from their original homes. People living in villages along the lakeshore have watched large pools of water reduced over time revealing farmable land. But that too began to disappear as increasing winds pushed sand in from the desert. Now the dry Sahel lies just beyond the lush greenery of the land surrounding the lake, as the waters of Lake Chad meet the desert after just a few hundred feet.
  • Fati Moussa, 27, stands outside her shelter at the Dar es Salaam refugee camp in Baga Sola, Chad February 2017. Moussa originally from Baga, Nigeria, fled across the lake to Baga Sola after surviving one of Boko Haram's worst massacres in January 2015. Unable to farm she  and her family survives on the charity of other refugees and the limited aid provided by under-funded aid agencies. The Boko Haram crisis was originally contained within northeastern Nigeria, where the extremist group focused their terror, but in 2015, as the regions multinational force began to close in on its areas of control, Boko Haram crossed borders and started to target neighboring countries. The spread of the crisis from NE Nigeria to its neighboring countries surrounding the Lake is resulting in one of the largest humanitarian crisis in the world.
  • Dar es Salaam refugee camp in Baga Sola, Chad.
  • Mohammed Mboudou, digs for natron in Mayala, Chad February 2017. Mboudou has been mining for natron, a sodium based mineral found in pockets of areas around the basin, since he was 20 years old. As the water levels of the lake decrease, fields of natron are uncovered overtime. They are mined and sold to markets around the basin with Nigeria being the largest market. Since late 2014, the route to Nigeria has been cut off due to insecurity severely affecting the local market and incomes of the fishermen, farmers and miners and their ability to provide for their families.
  • Mohammed Mboudou, digs for natron in Mayala, Chad February 2017. Mboudou has been mining for natron, a sodium based mineral found in pockets of areas around the basin, since he was 20 years old. As the water levels of the lake decrease, fields of natron are uncovered overtime. They are mined and sold to markets around the basin with Nigeria being the largest market. Since late 2014, the route to Nigeria has been cut off due to insecurity severely affecting the local market and incomes of the fishermen, farmers and miners and their ability to provide for their families.
  • A boy walks through Dar es Salaam refugee camp in Baga Sola, Chad.
  • A man washes his face with well water outside of Taal Village, Chad. For 30 years the people of Taal have watched the desert push into their village. Many have had to rebuild their homes after they were destroyed by the sand. Elders recalled that over 80 years ago the lake was only 2km away from Taal, but now it lies over 10km away.
  • Farmland meets desert in Bagasola, Chad
  • A boy fills bottles with water from Lake Chad in Baga Sola, Chad. Despite the fact that numerous wells have been installed in town, many people still use water from the lake despite contamination. Aid organizations are having to dig up to 300 meters to find ground water that most people find too salty to drink.
  • Ali Koura, 75, paddles a boat to his farm on Kourkei Island across from Tagal Village in Baga Sola, Chad. Despite many other farmers abandoning their land on the island out of fear of a Book Haram attack, Koura refuses to leave and believes that Allah will protect him and continues to produce many crops but due to the blocked route to Nigeria, Koura has lost over 70% of his income.
  • Boys fish by the shores of Lake Chad in Wollirom, Chad.
  • The remains of a village on a island in Lake Chad, Chad. Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes on the islands of Lake Chad due to Boko Haram attacks or as a security precaution implemented by the Chadian military as it continues to battle the terrorist group.
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