Daily survival budgets are shrinking across Chad, warns sociologist Remadji Ngaba. For many families, 2,000 CFA francs is all they have to feed five or six people—less than 375 francs per person.
In local kitchens, this means cutting first on proteins, then vegetables, until meals consist of whatever is available just to stay alive. Balanced nutrition becomes a luxury. Children grow up with critical nutritional gaps. Survival, not health, drives daily choices.
«Today, Chad is paying a heavy price. The household basket is empty,» Ngaba emphasizes. «Families have developed a resilience born of necessity—without this mental strength, the situation would collapse.»
The burden of economic hardship falls squarely on women. «She manages the home. When prices rise, she feels it first. Her struggle becomes the family’s struggle,» he explains.
Each trip to the market is a confrontation with escalating costs. Reports of price hikes are not exaggerations—markets have become daily sources of distress. Authorities claim to act, but their measures are temporary. «Prices rise, interventions occur, and then everything returns to where it started. Nothing changes,» Ngaba notes with frustration.
Why Chad starves despite fertile land
Chad has over 33 million hectares of arable land across 1.28 million square kilometers. Yet hunger persists. The crisis is worst in cities, where everything has a price. But rural communities are not spared. Farmers and herders face daily threats: crops trampled by wandering livestock, no access to justice, and dwindling hope.
Many abandon the countryside, seeking refuge in cities like N’Djamena—though safety there is far from guaranteed. «We cannot all live in N’Djamena. Even the capital has its dangers,» Ngaba cautions.
Clashes between farmers and herders cripple local production, blocking the supply chains that could stabilize urban food prices. «Both groups need protection. Only then can we rebuild food systems that reduce costs,» he urges.
Stagnant wages, soaring costs
The minimum wage has remained at 60,000 CFA francs since 2011. Meanwhile, living expenses have doubled. A modest room in N’Djamena now costs 20,000 to 25,000 francs per month—eating up most salaries even before food, electricity, and utilities are paid.
A roadmap to relief
Ngaba offers practical solutions: subsidize agricultural initiatives, better manage water resources, and implement consistent market price monitoring to curb speculation and inflation.
«Our leaders are not exempt from hunger,» he remarks. «They travel, they see how others govern. They know what it takes to improve lives. It’s time they act decisively.»
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