CHAD · FOOD SECURITY
Key Facts
- The country Chad is a landlocked Sahel country that hosts about 1.58 million refugees, most of them from Sudan.
- Why it matters Food stress persists in a Sahel state that shelters Sudan’s refugees; US travel advice is Level 3.
- Why now A steering committee reviewed free-food preparations for 15 provinces on Thursday 29 October 2026.
- What happened Chad has mobilized 8,900 tonnes of food, 3,000 from the United Arab Emirates and 5,900 from state stocks.
- What it means for you A humanitarian and security signal for US donors, travelers and Sahel watchers.
In Plain English
ONASA is Chad’s national food security office, which keeps grain reserves for shortages. FEWS NET is a monitoring network that tracks rainfall, prices and hunger levels.
Phase 3, called Crisis, on the five-step IPC hunger scale means households are cutting meals or selling assets to eat. The lean season is the stretch before harvest when stored food runs low.
Chad’s government says it has mobilized 8,900 metric tonnes of food, about 9,800 US short tons, to hand out free in 15 provinces hit by a weak rainy season. A steering committee run by the Ministry of Social Action, Solidarity and Humanitarian Affairs reviewed the plan on Thursday 29 October 2026 and put the gift from the United Arab Emirates at 3,000 tonnes and the draw from state stocks at 5,900 tonnes.
For US readers the story is a hunger signal from a Sahel country that shelters about 1.58 million refugees, most of them fleeing the war in Sudan. The State Department rates Chad Level 3, Reconsider Travel, and background is in the guide to the Chadian economy and the map of where Sudan’s refugees have gone.
What the Committee Decided
The meeting was chaired by Adoum Attor Annour, secretary general of the ministry, and covered resources, planning and practical arrangements. Members also reviewed how beneficiaries will be identified, how provincial teams will coordinate and how deliveries will be monitored.
The committee set the next steps as validating the operational plans, moving the food to the provinces and drawing up beneficiary lists. It also plans a system to trace stocks and supervise field work.
A Rainy Season That Fell Short
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network, a food-security monitoring service, said in its September 2026 update that long dry spells forced farmers to replant and some to abandon fields. It added that herders had not reached their seasonal grazing areas by 31 August for lack of water and pasture.
The network expects Crisis outcomes to persist through January 2027 in the eastern provinces of Ouaddaï, Sila, Wadi Fira and Ennedi Est, and in Lac province. It also found Crisis conditions in Kanem and northern Barh-El-Gazel in September, with harvests delayed from October to November.
Prices are rising before the harvest, with the average price of millet, the main staple grain, up 13 percent at the end of August compared with the end of July. In the eastern markets of Abéché, Goz Beida and Guéréda the price per kilogram of millet rose 41, 46 and 39 percent.
What the Government Has Already Done
President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno made a surprise visit to a warehouse of the national food security office, ONASA, in N’Djamena on Tuesday 15 September 2026 to check food stocks. He said afterwards that this year there would be no subsidized sales and that free food would go to every affected province, and he warned traders not to use the shortfall to raise prices.
The president also said tax measures had been taken to contain prices and that an interministerial committee was assessing the situation. He urged Chadians not to panic and asked international partners to step up their support.
The United Arab Emirates delivered 3,000 tonnes of beans, maize, millet, rice, sugar and oil, which Social Action Minister Zara Mahamat Issa received on Wednesday 23 September 2026 alongside the Emirati ambassador. The minister described the shortfall as a risk that could push hundreds of thousands of Chadians into severe food insecurity without early action.
A Country Already Stretched
The pressure comes on top of the Sudan war, with UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, counting 1,584,253 refugees in Chad as of 5 October 2026. A joint update of 25 October 2026 by Chad’s refugee commission, UNHCR and the UN migration agency IOM counts 980,399 new arrivals from Sudan since April 2023, Sudanese refugees and Chadian returnees, and 87 percent of the 915,419 registered or pre-registered are women and children.
The World Food Programme, the UN food agency, cites a Cadre Harmonisé analysis, the regional hunger-rating system, projecting nearly 3.2 million people, almost 15 percent of Chad’s population, in acute food insecurity during the June to August 2026 lean season. The agency says it supports more than a million people in eastern Chad, including refugees, returnees and host communities.
What It Means for You
The operation is a humanitarian story, and it shows how a poor harvest can add hunger to a refugee crisis in one of Africa’s largest refugee hosts. Americans who give to relief groups can follow the agencies’ own appeals, since the president asked partners for more help on 15 September.
The State Department’s Level 3 advisory, dated 18 March 2025, cites crime, terrorism, civil unrest and kidnapping. The Lake Chad region and the borders with Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Libya, Niger, Nigeria and Sudan are Level 4, and outside N’Djamena US emergency help is extremely limited.
What Is Not Known
The account of the committee meeting of 29 October does not give the split of the 8,900 tonnes by province, the number of households to be served or the date when distributions start. The minister promised a table by province on 15 September, and it is not part of that account.
The size of the harvest shortfall in tonnes is not stated in the account of the committee meeting or in the network’s September update. That account also does not say how long the free distributions will run or how the 5,900 tonnes from state stocks will be replaced.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much free food is Chad giving out?
Chad has mobilized 8,900 metric tonnes of food for free distribution in 15 provinces. Of that, 3,000 tonnes come from a United Arab Emirates donation and 5,900 tonnes from state stocks.
Why is Chad short of food this year?
Long dry spells during the rainy season forced replanting and left herders short of water and pasture. Millet prices also rose ahead of the harvest, by 13 percent on average in August.
Is it safe for Americans to travel to Chad?
The State Department rates Chad Level 3, Reconsider Travel, citing crime, terrorism, civil unrest and kidnapping. The Lake Chad region and several border areas are Level 4, Do Not Travel.
How many refugees does Chad host?
UNHCR counts 1,584,253 refugees in Chad as of 5 October 2026. A joint update of 25 October 2026 counts 980,399 new arrivals from Sudan, including Chadian returnees, since April 2023.
Sources: FEWS NET, Chad Key Message Update, September 2026 to January 2027; Chad government, UNHCR and IOM, Emergency situation in Chad, update on arrivals from Sudan, 25 October 2026; UNHCR operational data portal, Chad, updated 5 October 2026; World Food Programme, Chad country page; US State Department, Chad travel advisory, 18 March 2025.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief