Abstract
The environmental change manifested in terms of drought and desertification in the Lake Chad basin area is characterised by the drastically reduction in the volume of the water in the basin, with serious consequences both at the local and global environment. This therefore demands an immediate attention as such change can no longer sustain the livelihood of the people of the area. A questionnaire was administered to collect primary data on the socio-economic activities and drought coping strategies of the people living in the locations of the Lake Chad basin (the Baga in the north of the basin and Southern Chad project around Marte in the south of the basin). Five communities were randomly selected from the 21 in Baga and another 5 from the 24 in Marte. The populations of these communities were between 2000 and 2500. Thus a sample size of about 2.5 %, (that is 500 people) was taken. The strategies with which local communities are responding to the increasingly unfavourable environment of the basin were evaluated. These were done with a view to providing an understanding of the dynamics of land and water uses in the area.
Highlights
One of the most significant facts that became well appreciated at the turn of the last century was that the environment is changing far more dramatically and significantly than it had ever been thought of
The areas demarcated covered the two major projects sites located within the basin namely the Baga Polder Project (BPP) located in Baga area in the western part of the basin and Southern Chad Irrigation Project (SCIP) around New Marte in the southern part of the basin (Figure 1)
There are 65 questions in all divided in four sections: (1) personal data which includes name, sex, age, marital status and educational background; (2) Socio-Economic characteristics which asked questions on the occupation, factors affecting economic activities, use of the lake, income, 24 questions; (3) Coping strategies which related to how the people cope when crop failed, the factors that help them prepare for crop failure, and whether there are help from government and NGO; and (4) Awareness on Inter-basin water transfer which included questions on whether they are aware of inter-government activity to restore the level of water in the lake to its previous status
Summary
One of the most significant facts that became well appreciated at the turn of the last century was that the environment is changing far more dramatically and significantly than it had ever been thought of. The nature of this environmental change varies in time and space. A fairly recent assessment indicates that it has reduced to less than 20 percent of that size as revealed from satellite imageries reported by NASA (2001) (Figure 2) This implies that extensive ecological change had occurred in the areas
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