Lake Chad fisheries and its importance in the Green Revolution Programme

Lake Chad fisheries contributes about 13% of all fish produced by the inland and coastal states of the nation and supports a large population of fishermen and allied workers. The species of freshwater fish produced from the Lake such as Gymnarchus, Clarias and Heterotis are very popular with the fish consumers in Nigeria; hence Lake Chad processed fish is transported long distances to southern Nigerian markets. Lake Chad thus contributes significantly to the provision of fish protein and to the Green Revolution Programm

Re-emphasizing the importance of Lake Chad fisheries in Nigerian economy: Borno State experience

Nigeria with an estimated population of about 120 million people requires about 2.3 million metric tonnes of fish and fisheries product for good health at the recommended 19 kg/caput/year by FAO. Lake Chad fisheries resource of Borno State is a blessing in disguise to the Nigerian economy. It has potential to produce over 300,000 metric tonnes of fish protein annually, representing about 12.2% of the total fish demand of Nigerians. In spite of this laudable potential Lake Chad fisheries resources of Borno State declined in the past two decades due, largely, to lack of/or inadequate attention by the government, private and commercial organization, lack of social economics and infra-structural facilities for rational exploitations and management of its resources. This paper re-emphasizes the importance of Lake Chad Fisheries of Borno State in the Nigerian economy. The fisheries resources, the environment, the exploitation, the potential marketing, the role of law enforcement and foreign agencies, the constraints and potentials are discussed. Nigeria can derive a substantial proportion of its fish demand from Lake Chad fisheries of Borno State alone just with the adoption of some proffered strategies including combined efforts of the private and public sectors in the rational management of the fisheries resource of Lake Cha

Resource utilization practices and sustainable development at the Lake Chad basin

The paper examines the resource utilization practices of the Lake Chad in view of the need for sustainable development of the natural resources of the area, which are being recklessly exploited. The issues of obnoxious fishing practices, inappropriate agricultural practices, indiscriminate grazing, reckless fuel-wood harvesting, water pollution etc were discussed. There are clear indications that the current resources utilization practices are pushing the natural resources of the area beyond the limit of their regenerative capacity. This is traceable to institutional weakness and inadequate management strategies at the Lake Chad basin. Suggestions were made towards witnessing a change of attitude to resource use, exploitation and management strategie

From Megachad to Microchad - environmental changes during the Holocene

The investigations carried out within the project in NE-Nigeria since 1989 have been focussing on the late Pleistocene and Holocene landscape development of the south eastern Chad basin. Areas of interest include palaeodune fields, clay plains and former beach ridge systems of Lake Chad. Transgressions and regressions of Lake Chad played an important role in the younger landscape history of NE-Nigeria and have also caused great environmental changes. The term „Megachad“ is well known and describes an enormous lake with an extension comparable with the Caspian Sea of today. The term „Microchad“ stands for the other recent extreme in terms of the lake dimensions varying during the times. Environmental changes in the surroundings of Lake Chad are closely connected with transgressions and regressions of the lake. These lake level changes can be climatically induced as well as non-climatically, due to human impact. Nearly all land units have more or less been influenced by the lake, spatially as well as temporally. It is important, though, to notice the scales of the changes. Some changes took place in a millennial scale, some in the scales of centuries or decades, and at least – as can be observed every year – in a seasonal scale

Resource and environmental insecurity in the Lake Chad Region

Abstract: Geography has become a major determinant of geopolitics. The nature of a country’s geography has direct influence on the foreign policy posture of the said country. A state naturally does not live in isolation hence it cannot be separated from the direct and indirect influence of neighbouring countries. This study is focused on the Lake Chad environment and the insecurity therein. This study focused on the push and pull effect of resources, insecurity and diplomacy in the Lake Chad environment. It found that agriculture was badly affected following the recession of the Lake Chad. Again, the mass migration of the people to the Lake Chad and their inability to eke-out a living there as well as national insecurity due to Chadian Civil War, Cameroonian Civil War and Islamism insurgency caused widespread irregular migrations into neighbouring countries. The study recommends increased multi-lateral engagements aimed at managing and transforming the deteriorating Lake Chad environment that has become overtaken by insecurity and resource depletion

Preliminary observations on the feeding, habits and reproduction biology of Gymnarchus niloticus from Lake Chad

The preliminary results obtained from the study of stomach contents of specimens of Gymnarchus niloticus of a size ranging from 56 cm (66 grams) to 152 cm (12.0 kg.) from August to December, 1982 indicate for these sizes an exclusively piscivorous diet. The predominant prey species in Lake Chad are Tilapia/Sarotherodon , and Clarias . The prey is often cut in two parts before it is swallowed. Small prey may be swallowed whole. The implication of this prey capture method on prey-predator relationship and therefore the impact of the predator is discussed. The breeding season of Gymnarchus niloticus in Lake Chad has been deduced from observation of changes in gonad maturity stages and the results indicate that breeding takes place between August and November. Data are also presented on the fecundity, size of ripe eggs and probable size at maturit

Climate change and lake water resources in Sub-Saharan Africa: case study of lake Chad and lake Victoria

This review assesses the impact of climate change on lake water resources in Sub-Saharan Africa(SSA). Two significant global water features with immense contribution to agriculture and socio-economic development of the region were analysed. Lake Victoria is the world second largest freshwater lake and Lake Chad the largest endoreic basin. These two great water bodies have been affected drastically by climate change and human influence. A significant shrinkage on Lake Chad was experienced with a decrease in water stored from in 1960s to less than in 2005. This effect abruptly receded Lake Chad from 25,000Km2 in the 1960s to 1350Km2 in 2005; while Lake Victoria experienced continual fluctuations from over a century; with evaporation rates varying between 1370mm to 1600mm, 90% of water loss which leads to peak fluctuation occurring in 1961.Keywords: Water Resource, Climate Change, Sub-Saharan Africa, Lake Chad, Lake Victori

Small fish, big money: conflicts evolving around new fishing techniques and old fishing rights at the shores of Lake Chad, Nigeria

Dumba-fishing was invented at Lake Chad about 10 years ago by immigrant fishermen from Mali and Nigerian Hausaland. The new technique brought about a new era of Lake Chad fishery, characterised by social and institutional changes. Titled Kanuri fishery headmen (Kacalla njibe)2 who traditionally controlled the access to the lake's water were unable to cope with the massive influx of immigrant fishermen. The lack of an institution for effective control lead to serious conflicts between local and immigrant fishermen. With the Fishermen Association Marte Local Government a new institution was invented, in which local and immigrant fishermen, regardless of their ethnicity, should control access to the fishing grounds together. The Fishermen Association was modelled after “modern” urban institutions and thus mirrors the transformation of the lake shores from rural backwaters, with local customs and culture to an economic centre, characterised by inmigration, cultural diversity and several other 'urban' traits

The unique Kuri cattle of the Lake Chad Basin

The Kuri cattle breed is found on the shores and islands of Lake Chad. Its main habitat is in southern Chad and north-eastern Nigeria but the breed is also found in northern Cameroon, in Niger and, to a limited extent, in the Central African Republic. The Kuri are also known as the Baharie, Bare, Borrie, Boudouma, Dongolé, Koubouri, Buduma or White Lake Chad. The importance of the Kuri lies not only in its unique physical characteristics but also in its meat and milk production potentials. The breed is so acclimatised to the environs of Lake Chad that it is unable to survive elsewhere. This unique African breed is being threatened by extinction

Using space photography of the Earth in the classroom: Drought in Africa

A script of a classroom presentation based on space photographs of Africa is presented. The intended audience is elementary and secondary school teachers. Photographs of Lake Chad are used to illustrate climatic developments that exemplify the African drought problem