Abstract
This article examines lake drying and livelihood dynamics in the context of multiple stressors through a case study of the “Small Lake Chad” in the Republic of Chad. Livelihoods research in regions experiencing persistent lake water fluctuations has largely focused on the well-being and security of lakeshore dwellers. Little is known about the mechanisms through which lake drying shapes livelihood drawbacks and opportunities, and whether locally evolved responses are enhancing livelihoods. Here we address these gaps using empirical, mixed-methods field research couched within the framework of livelihoods and human well-being contexts. The analysis demonstrates that limited opportunities outside agriculture, the influx of mixed ethnic migrants and the increasing spate of violence all enhance livelihood challenges. Livelihood opportunities centre on the renewal effects of seasonal flood pulses on lake waters and the learning opportunities triggered by past droughts. Although drying has spurred new adaptive behaviours predicated on seasonality, traditional predictive factors and the availability of assets, responses have remained largely reactive. The article points to where lake drying fits amongst changes in the wider socio-economic landscape in which people live, and suggests that awareness of the particularities of the mechanisms that connect lake drying to livelihoods can offer insights into the ways local people might be assisted by governments and development actors.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-016-0805-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Amongst the major global environmental changes observed around the world in recent decades is the drying of lakes (World Lakes Network 2004)
Unpacking the influences of the Small Lake Chad on rural livelihoods co-habit within small villages around one primary livelihood activity informed their placement into three livelihood groups
This article uses primary information accessed by studying the conditions and experiences of lake dwellers to pin down the mechanisms shaping how lake drying influences livelihoods, including the range of stressors confronting people that are tied to water-based activities, and to identify how seasonality spurs reactive behaviours
Summary
Amongst the major global environmental changes observed around the world in recent decades is the drying of lakes (World Lakes Network 2004). Numerous studies have stated that the diminution of lakes shapes the well-being and security of lake dwellers Less is known about the range of opportunities lakeshore dwellers can access under lake-level fluctuations—including where lake drying fits in the suite of stressors affecting household livelihoods in water-limited environments that are increasingly a global focus of resource conflict concerns. Managers and scientists work to address the changing climatic and socio-political landscape within which lake dwellers operate, there is a need for knowledge regarding the livelihood benefits that resource users lose or gain under conditions of water resource depletion, and in particular, how lake drying interacts with local contextual issues (White 2013)
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