Improving water management

Agriculture and livestock raising are the pillars of Chad’s economy and require access to water. The vast majority of the huge livestock herd is managed by pastoral systems, meaning the movement of cattle depending on climatic conditions, seasonal cycles and water points. This is called transhumance. But the irregular rainfall and insufficient number of wells on the paths often force nomadic populations to shorten their routes and use the water resources of sedentary populations. This situation can lead to serious conflicts. 

AFD has rehabilitated 38 wells and built 28 additional wells. We have also built a combined bridge (pastoral and road) to connect the two banks of the Batha River in order to facilitate the passage of herds.

Supplying the capital with agricultural products

Water management is the focus of our action and is also central to the Bahr-Linia project. 2,500 hectares of land will be irrigated thanks to the development of a 40 km-long section of the Chari River. These crops are located near N’Djamena and will improve the supply of agricultural products to the capital, which up until now have been imported at high prices from neighboring Cameroon. 

With some 80% of the population living in rural areas, Chad has a low level of urbanization. It is the capital, N’Djamena, which is home to the most city dwellers: 1.2 million inhabitants, i.e. 8.5% of the country’s population. There is a stark demographic contrast between the capital and the country’s three largest cities: Moundou, Sarh and Abéché each have between 100,000 and 200,000 inhabitants.

However, the urban population is growing and so is the need for infrastructure. In 2015, only 31.4% of the urban population had access to improved sanitation facilities and 71.8% to an improved water source.

AFD works with municipalities to define an urban policy that provides reliable and affordable public services. For 20 years now, we have been helping the municipality of N’Djamena improve access to basic services, by focusing on the creation and extension of wastewater and stormwater sanitation networks. We also operate in the capital’s outlying neighborhoods and are working in Moundou, where we are financing a flood control project.

Life expectancy is only 53 years in Chad and the mortality rate is one of the highest in the world. This is due to a deficient health system, marked by dilapidated facilities and a lack of qualified staff, which is particularly detrimental. 

To address this situation, AFD is working to establish a quality health system accessible to all, by building the capacities of the Ministry of Public Health. It focuses its action on maternal and child health (prevention, pregnancy monitoring, emergency management), which especially give cause for concern in the country. In N’Djamena, we are building the municipality’s capacities in terms of healthcare provision, the availability of drugs and hygiene via an urban health project.

Since the 2000s, AFD has mobilized EUR 55m to support Chad’s health system, thanks to which 530 health workers have been trained, 1,700 people living with HIV/AIDS have received medical treatment, and an obstetrical package has been made available to 1,750 women, along with a pediatric package for 2,800 children. 

In early 2018, AFD launched a project to improve the quality of life and inclusion of children, disabled children and vulnerable people, in partnership with the NGO Humanité & Inclusion. It will allow 10,000 people to benefit from targeted rehabilitation services by creating 20 departments and 10 organizations of disabled people (ODPs). 

Underemployment is a major issue, with Chad’s youth (under the age of 25) accounting for 70% of a rapidly growing population. The number of young people entering the labor market is expected to increase from 140,000 a year in 2012 to 210,000 in 2020. By 2020, it will be necessary to create a total of 1.7 million new jobs. Yet there has still been little development of vocational training in Chad, which does not have training institutes in sufficient numbers and quality. The training on offer does not match needs and there is very little dissemination of apprenticeship as a method for skills development.

Matching training to employment is central to AFD’s operations, which support the financing mechanism for continuous vocational training and apprenticeship. 7,000 employees have already been trained in craft, construction and livestock raising activities. AFD also gives special attention to the socioeconomic integration of young Chadians. With the Bab al Amal project, 3,000 young people will be helped to find employment between 2018 and 2021. We are also supporting the Small Business Center, a unique system to support entrepreneurship in Chad, which works on self-employment: at the end of 2017, over a thousand promoters had already been trained and over two hundred business plans had been finalized.
 
In the field of basic education, thanks to AFD’s support to schools and capacity building for educational services, 30,000 children from the periurban areas of N’Djamena and Moundou will receive quality primary education and will be able to continue to secondary school.

Civil society organizations (CSO)s are key partners for AFD in Chad, due to their technical skills, expertise and proximity to the population. AFD offers specific financing for French NGOs.

In 2017 alone, AFD supported 20 projects led by NGOs in a wide range of areas: agriculture and food security, education, sanitation, civil society organizations and human rights. Man Ge Madji (“Good Water") is one of the projects and is being implemented by the NGO IDO. It aims to give rural communities in Eastern and Western Logone ownership of their water points. It will provide 180,000 villagers with sustainable access to drinking water by 2020. 

The French Embassy in Chad also offers dedicated tools to Chadian NGOs which wish to obtain financing via its PISCCA program.