Chad bans grain exports, waives import duties after drought damages harvests

Chad has moved to ban exports of several agricultural commodities and to waive duties on certain grain imports, responding to harvest losses caused by intense heat and drought.

A decree issued late on Wednesday by Finance Minister Tahir Hamid Nguilin exempted wheat, corn, millet and rice, along with livestock feed and agricultural equipment, from import duties and taxes. A separate decree signed the same day by Commerce Minister Mathieu Guibolo Fanga prohibited exports of millet, corn, rice, sorghum, wheat and cotton seed.

The measures follow repeated dry spells between July and mid-August that raised concerns about crop development and yields, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization said in a report this week.

Agricultural Production and Industrialization Minister Keda Ballah said the central, eastern and northern regions were the hardest hit. He said the government was helping farmers cultivate off-season crops in irrigated areas, describing the effort as the only way to prevent famine in some regions.

The World Food Programme had said earlier this year that more than 3 million people would face acute food insecurity during the lean season from June to August.

Farmers and herders described widespread losses. Mahamat Moussa Ali, a farmer in the west-central province of Chari-Baguirmi, said drought had destroyed 12 hectares of his corn crop. He said the government had not warned farmers about the heatwave, leaving them unable to prepare, and warned that food shortages in the markets were the authorities' main concern while no farmer in his community had been spared.

Djibrilla Abba Bello, a nomadic herder in the Mayo-Kebbi Ouest region, said streams and ponds that normally supply water for livestock at this time of year had dried up. He said the animals were losing weight, producing less milk and struggling to walk long distances, and that some herders had sought refuge in the Central African Republic despite insecurity there, choosing to take the risk for the sake of their herds. Bello said he planned to join them.