The Chad government on Thursday declared a food emergency in the impoverished landlocked country, calling for immediate help from the international community, a decree signed by the chief of the military transition Mahamat Idriss Déby read, reported Africa News.
The aid plea comes before a meeting Friday between the head of the African Union and Russia’s president to discuss grain supplies due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Following the constant deterioration of the food and nutritional situation this year and taking into account the growing risk to populations if no humanitarian aid… is provided, this decree declares a food emergency,” the decree read. “The government calls on all national actors and international partners to help the populations.”
According to the United Nations (UN), over 5.5 million people in Chad – more than a third of the population – would need humanitarian assistance this year.
In March, the World Food Program (WFP) estimated that 2.1 million Chadians would be severely food insecure during the lean season starting in June.
The Russia-Ukraine war and Western sanctions on Moscow have adversely affected deliveries of wheat and other commodities to all the countries, fueling concerns about the risk of hunger around the world. Notably, around 30 percent of the world’s wheat supply comes from Ukraine and Russia.
On Friday, Senegalese President Macky Sall, who is also the African Union head, is scheduled to meet Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to discuss “freeing up stocks of cereals and fertilizers, the blockage of which particularly affects African countries,” Sall’s office has said.
As per the UN data, Chad is the third poorest nation in the world. In 2021, it ranked 113 out of 116 nations on the “Global Hunger Index”.
A military junta led by General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno has ruled Chad since last year, after his father, long-serving strongman Idriss Deby Itno, died in battle.
