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00:00Weeks after the heavy rains, Acher Babalger is wading through mud in his completely flooded
00:07field.
00:08The farmer has lost 18 of his 24 hectares of cultivated land, a huge disaster for him
00:14and his family.
00:15Here I lost 3 hectares of sesame, 14 hectares of millet and 1.5 hectares of peanuts and
00:24okra.
00:25That accounts for the 18 hectares that were destroyed.
00:31These losses amount to nearly 6,000 euros in profits that have gone.
00:34Pesticides, fertilizers and seeds are all lost.
00:38On top of that, we have yet to assess the losses related to the livestock.
00:43That's a massive loss in a country where most people earn less than 80 euros per month.
00:49Acher can only assess the damage and try to reach out to the Chadian authorities.
00:54So far, he has received no assistance from the state.
00:58We hear on the radio that the Ministry of Agriculture has done this or has done that.
01:03But we can't find a way to get in touch with them or present our case to the right office
01:08so that we can receive support.
01:12The government has been able to provide compensation to some farmers since the disaster began and
01:18continues to reinforce emergency dikes along the Chari River.
01:22However, due to a lack of resources, its efforts heavily rely on limited support from the UN.
01:28I think we have maximized the resources available to us, but it really requires a lot of funding.
01:38If these areas are not secured, we will face a food security problem.
01:43We need to protect their means of production and their livelihoods while ensuring the safety
01:49of their homes.
01:51For us, it's about taking action that leads to sustainable solutions.
01:58According to the United Nations, 25% of Chad's cultivated arable land has been destroyed
02:05this year.
02:06A shortfall of 350,000 tons of agricultural products will soon strike the markets, all
02:13while more than 3 million people were already facing food insecurity in the country before
02:19the rains.