Our story

The Lake Chad is the fourth largest lake in Africa (by area) after Lakes Victoria, Tanganyika and Nyassa. The area of Lake Chad, one of the largest bodies of freshwater in Africa, has shrunk by more than 90% over the past 58 years. When LCBC was established in 1964, the lake extended over more than 25,000km². Lake Chad is the relic of an ancient Quaternary Sea, at an altitude of 280m and a depth that does not exceed 4 meters today (2012). It is crowded with islands and undergoes particularly intense evaporation.

Since the two disastrous droughts of 1972-1973 and 1982-1984, rainfall has dropped from an average of 320mm to 210mm. Similarly, the two large rivers which supply the Lake have lost their capacity: the Chari-Logone which provides 90% of its waters, like the Kamadougou-Yobe, which with the remaining 10%. Its highest level is usually reached between December – January, and its lowest in June-July. In 2008, its dimensions were 30km by 40km at the mouth of the Chari – Logone river for an area of 2,500km². Lake Chad covers less than 10% of the area it occupied in the 1960s.