Introduction
The Lake Chad Basin (LCB) is an important freshwater lake straddling four countries in the Sub-Saharan region: the northern part of Cameroon, western Chad, south-east Niger, and northeastern Nigeria. Its channels formerly encompassed 40,000 square kilometres with hundreds of small islands and surrounding areas that offered different opportunities, including fish to eat and trade and fertile soil for cultivation for the communities there. Despite the challenges associated with demographic tracking, the most accurate estimate of the region’s current population is roughly 30 million (Humanitarian Practice Network, 2017). The LCB is regarded as one of the world’s most complex and protracted conflict zones, cutting across Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria, marked by dangerously high levels of violence.
According to a 2022 UNDP Conflict Analysis report on the LCB, the countries around the Lake Chad Basin (LCB) have faced a variety of security issues for many years, such as livestock rustling, banditry, kidnapping, and highway robberies. The report further emphasised that the Boko Haram situation continues to be the LCB’s biggest security concern, with violent extremism impacting the associated countries and hampering their capacities to provide human security.
