Mamman Nuhu (Amb)

Executive Secretary, Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC)

Head of Mission, Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF)

Lake Chad Basin Region:

For decades, Lake Chad has remained a mainstay for the Basin's 45-50 million people, most of whom are fishermen, farmers, herders, and petty traders who depend on the Lake for their livelihoods and economic well-being. However, over the years, the combined effects of the Lake's shrinking and variability due to climate change has resulted in the increasing loss of livelihood for the region.

This loss of support and revenue has led to different types of self-help survival measures, including arms trafficking and the development of a smuggling industry exacerbated by the porous borders between Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad. It has also led to festering violent extremist views, the recruitment of youth by terrorists and other armed bandits, and increasingly violent clashes between farmers and herders due to an increase in cross-border transhuman activities that destroy farm crops.

The multidimensional nature of the crises in the region has strained the relationships in the region. Ongoing resource scarcity, paired with the rise of Boko Haram and Islamic State-West Africa Province (ISWAP), contribute to increased tensions. The crises have additionally led to stalled development, impaired peaceful co-existence of the population, and triggered a humanitarian emergency that has seen more than 10.6 million people in need of assistance, with 6.2 million people facing food insecurity.

The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) estimates that $2.5 billion is needed for humanitarian assistance alone. Moreover, the cost of rebuilding communities and restoring the social contract between local authorities and communities is even higher.

Ownership and Pragmatic Partnerships

The crisis’ multidimensional, regional and cross-boundary nature means that restoring stability and transitioning from recovery to long-term development requires a unique approach that recognises the transnational nature of the crisis, the imperatives for local ownership, and the pragmatic vertical and horizontal relationships required. It calls for actors and stakeholders to join efforts beyond national frontiers to ensure the “glocalisation” of ideas.

The Lake Chad Basin Regional Strategy for Stabilisation Recovery and Resilience provides the needed strategic and overarching framework that promotes ownership while creating the space for pragmatic partnerships for the region to transition from stabilization to recovery and development. Anchored on a new way of working, the Strategy enables and puts into practice the Nexus approach — ensuring the convergence of humanitarian, development, and peace (HDP) actors within the same framework and establishing coordination structures to address the multidimensional crises in the Basin region.

Since its establishment in 2018, the Strategy has enabled local ownership and empowered local actors to lead stabilisation efforts. Through the Lake Chad Basin Governors’ Forum, it activated an innovative and unique platform for upscaling and bringing local issues to regional and global attention. The Governors’ Forum, which convened its third edition in October 2021,  has led to agreements on critical cross-border interventions and infrastructure, creating further opportunities for cross-border trade and human mobility. Downstream, vertical partnerships with local civil society organisations have also engineered local demands for accountability, the development of innovative approaches for strengthening the integrity of local civil society groups, and projected opportunities for sustaining stabilisation efforts in the region.