Agriculture in Chad

In 2020, approximately 80% of Chad's labor force was employed in the agricultural sector. This sector of the economy accounts for 52.3% of the GDP, as of 2017. With the exception of cotton production, some small-scale sugar cane production, and a portion of the peanut crop, Chad's agriculture consists of subsistence food production.
The East Sudanian savanna, which accounts for about 10% of the total land area, contains the nation's most fertile croplands. Settled agricultural communities growing a wide variety of food crops are its main features. Fishing is important in the rivers, and families raise goats, chickens, and, in some cases, oxen for plowing. In 1983 about 72% of all land under cultivation in Chad was in the East Sudanian savanna.

Production

Chad agricultural production in 2018:

987 thousand tons of sorghum;
893 thousand tons of peanut;
756 thousand tons of millet;
484 thousand tonnes of yam ;
475 thousand tons of sugarcane;
437 thousand tons of maize;
284 thousand tons of cassava;
259 thousand tons of rice;
255 thousand tons of sweet potato;
172 thousand tons of sesame seed;
151 thousand tons of bean;
120 thousand tons of cotton;

In addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products.

Crop rotation

in the East Sudanian savanna traditionally begins with sorghum or millet in the first year. Mixed crops of sorghum and-or millet, with peanuts, legumes, or tubers, are then cultivated for approximately three years. Farmers then return the land to fallow for periods up to fifteen years, turning to different fields for the next cycle. Preparation of a field begins with cutting heavy bush and unwanted low trees or branches that are then laid on the ground. Collectively owned lands are parceled out during the dry season, and the fields are burned just before the onset of the first rains, usually around March. Farmers work most intensively during the rains between May and October, planting, weeding and protecting the crops from birds and animals. Harvesting begins in September and October with the early varieties of sorghum. The main harvest occurs in November and December. Farmers harvest crops of rice and berebere, the hardiest of Chad's varieties of millet, grown along receding water courses, as late as February.

Central zone

The central zone, or the Sahel, comprises the area with average annual rainfall of between 350 and 800 millimeters. The minimum rainfall needed for berebere, is 350 millimeters. The western area of the zone is dominated by the Chari and Logone rivers, which flow north from their sources in southern Chad and neighboring countries. The courses of these rivers, joining at N'Djamena to flow on to Lake Chad, create an ecological subregion. Fishing is important for the peoples along the rivers and along the shores of Lake Chad. Flood recession cropping is practiced along the edges of the riverbeds and lakeshore, areas that have held the most promise for irrigation in the zone. International donor attention focused on this potential beginning in the mid-1960s. Particular attention has been paid to the traditional construction of polders along the shores of Lake Chad. Land reclaimed by the use of such methods is extremely fertile. Chad's only wheat crop is cultivated in these polders.
In the rest of the Sahel, the hardier varieties of millet, along with peanuts and dry beans, are grown. Crop yields are far lower than they are in the south or near rivers and lakes. Farmers take every advantage of seasonal flooding to grow recession crops before the waters dry away, a practice particularly popular around Lake Fitri. The Sahel is ideal for pasturage. Herding includes large cattle herds for commercial sale, and goats, sheep, donkeys, and some horses are common in all villages.

Crop rotation

The cropping cycle for most of the Sahel is similar to that in the East Sudanian savanna, although the variety of crops planted is more limited because of dryness. In the polders of Lake Chad, farmers grow a wide range of crops; two harvests per year for corn, sorghum, and legumes are possible from February or March to September. Rice ripens in February, and wheat ripens in May.

Saharan zone

The Saharan Zone encompasses roughly the northern half of Chad. Except for some dates and legumes grown in the scattered oases, the area is not productive. Annual rainfall averages less than, and the land is sparsely populated by nomadic tribes. Many of Chad's camel herds are found in the region, but there are few cattle or horses.

Subsistence farming

Chad's subsistence farmers practice traditional slash-and-burn agriculture in tandem with crop rotation, which is typical throughout much of Africa. Sorghum is the most important food crop, followed by berebere. Less prevalent grains are corn, rice, and wheat. Other secondary crops include peanuts, sesame, legumes, and tubers, as well as a variety of garden vegetables.

Land tenure

As with most Third World countries, control of the land determines agricultural practices. There are three basic types of land tenure in Chad.

Collective ownership

The first is collective ownership by villages of croplands in their environs. In principle, such lands belong to a village collectively under the management of the village chief or the traditional chef des terres. Individual farmers hold inalienable and transmittable use rights to village lands, so long as they, their heirs, or recognized representatives cultivate the land. Outsiders can farm village lands only with the authorization of the village chiefs or chef des terres. Renting village farmlands is possible in some local areas but is not traditional practice.

Private ownership

Private ownership is the second type of tenure, applied traditionally to the small plots cultivated in wadis or oases. Wells belong to individuals or groups with rights to the land. Ownership of fruit trees and date palms in the oases is often separate from ownership of the land; those farmers who plant and care for trees own them.

State ownership

ownership is the third type, primarily for large enterprises such as irrigation projects. Under the management of parastatal or government employees, farmers enter into contractual arrangements, including paying fees, for the use of state lands and the benefits of improved farming methods.

Agricultural statistics

Detailed and reliable statistical information on Chad's agriculture was scarce in the late 1980s; most researchers viewed available statistics only as indicators of general trends. The one region for which figures were kept was the East Sudanian savanna through survey coverage by officials of the National Office of Rural Development , who monitored cotton production. These officials also gathered information on food production, but this effort was not carried out systematically. Survey coverage of the Sahel was first hampered, then prevented, by civil conflict from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s.
Moreover, figures from international and regional organizations often conflicted or differed in formulation. For example, total area devoted to food production was difficult to estimate because sources combined the area of fields in production with those lying fallow to give a total for Arable lands. The Arable land figure has shown a gradual increase since 1961. Estimated then at 29,000 square kilometres, it rose to almost 32,000 square kilometres in 1984. In 1983 there were about 12,000 square kilometres in food production and in 1984 slightly more than 9,000 square kilometres. Therefore, perhaps a third of Chad's farmlands were in production in a given year, with the balance lying fallow.

Cotton

Cotton is an indigenous crop to southern Chad. Most of the production occurs in the five Sudanian prefectures of Mayo-Kebbi, Tandjilé, Logone Occidental, Logone Oriental, and Moyen-Chari, plus the Bousso region of Chari-Baguirmi Prefecture. Few other areas have enough water and population to sustain its production. Commonly, the cotton cultivation has occurred next to food crops.

Subsistence farming

Since the 1950s, Chad's food production has declined. Even so, despite pockets of malnutrition remaining in areas where rains failed or locusts damaged local crops, the overall picture for Chad's food production was good in the 1985-87 period. The rebound of food production in this period was the result of good rains, the return of political stability, and the absence of major conflict in the Sahelian and East Sudanian savannas. The downturn in cotton production and added restrictions on its cultivation also released lands and labor for farmers to put into food production. Production was so high in these years that, for the first time in a decade, it was estimated that Chad had returned to food sufficiency. This followed a cereal shortfall in the drought years of 1984 and 1985 of around 325,000 tons. Total cereal production rose thereafter to the 700,000-ton level, well above the estimated 615,000 tons of grains needed for food sufficiency.
Yet the overall food sufficiency registered by Chad in these years served to underscore the problem of regional imbalances in cereal production. The Sahel experienced a chronic shortfall in cereal production, whereas the East Sudanian savannas traditionally had a cereal surplus. The East Sudanian savannas was also the biggest producer of all subsistence food crops and of cash crops. It was estimated that the East Sudanian savannas produced between 53 and 77% of Chad's total cereal production from 1976 to 1985, with the average falling in the 60- to 70-% range. But because the populations of the two regions were approximately equal, the lack of a good transport system and marketing mechanisms to allow the rapid transfer of the southern surplus to the northern zones was a constant problem. This danger was especially threatening during times of drought affecting the Sahel.