29-09-2026 | di COOPI

Chad. COOPI’s integrated emergency response to the food and nutritional crisis in the Lake province

On September 30, 2026, the project "Food Emergency in Lake Chad: Protecting families from the food crisis and building sustainable solutions in Lake Chad", funded by AICS (Italian Agency for Development Cooperation) through MAECI (International Cooperation and Foreign Affair Italian Ministry) and implemented by COOPI – Cooperazione Internazionale in partnership with the Chadian Ngo ALMP (Association for the Fight against Malnutrition and Precarity), comes to a close.

Launched in the summer of 2025, this project has promoted the improvement of food and nutritional security for vulnerable communities through an integrated approach, combining rehabilitation sites executed through "cash for work", distributions of agricultural inputs, and training/services in the Mamdi department (sub-prefectures of Bol and Kangalam), Lake province. The objective was therefore not only the creation of short-term opportunities but to contribute to long-term resilience by improving productive assets for the benefit of entire communities.

Participatory planning of polders and new water harvesting basins

Nine Labor-Intensive Public Works sites were carried out in the Bol sub-prefecture, mobilizing 300 beneficiary workers for a period of 20 paid days. Land clearing, soil preparation, digging of compost pits, and construction of retention basins and protective fences: all these work sites were designed to sustainably strengthen water management, before the hand tools used were handed over to the communities to ensure their ongoing maintenance.

Technical training and distribution of equipment

Agricultural kits were distributed to 1,350 families (560 for market gardening, 790 for rainfed food crops), accompanied by technical training on crop management, seed management, and post-harvest preservation techniques. This included the distribution of 1,580 PICS bags, triple-layer hermetic storage bags designed to preserve grains and agricultural produce without the use of chemicals.

Furthermore, almost 3,000 people were trained in agroecological practices and sustainable soil management on 25 demonstration plots, while 10 women's cooperatives were strengthened in financial management and agri-food processing before receiving start-up funding.

Community facilitation and dialogues for increased social cohesion

Thirty community dialogues and ten days of community training were organized by ALMP, with the support of COOPI, across fourteen sites in the Mamdi department, bringing together nearly 940 beneficiaries. These spaces for mediation and exchange among farmers, breeders, and host communities were designed to prevent conflicts related to access to natural resources and to consolidate local conflict resolution committees, in line with COOPI’s ongoing commitment to the peaceful management of resources in the Lake province.

The project funded by the Italian Cooperation has improved the living conditions and strengthened the resilience of 4,692 beneficiaries over its 15 months of implementation. COOPI has been present in Chad since 1976, where it has carried out 160 projects to date, benefiting over 4.5 million people through a multisectoral approach. Today, in the Lake province, it improves the food and nutritional security of vulnerable communities, promotes women's empowerment, peacebuilding, and conflict prevention.