BACKGROUND

Widespread conflict, displacement, and limited resources, as well as periodic poor harvests, have contributed to an ongoing complex emergency in Chad. Inter-ethnic conflict, fighting between Government of Chad (GoC) forces and armed opposition groups, and cross-border raids from Sudanese militias based in neighboring Darfur had resulted in nearly 218,000 internally displaced Chadians as of June 2010, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Displacement within Chad has occurred in the context of an existing humanitarian emergency marked by the presence of nearly 270,000 Sudanese refugees who have fled into the eastern region of Chad since the start of the Darfur complex emergency in 2003. According to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 340,000 refugees from Sudan and the Central African Republic (CAR) resided in camps in eastern and southern Chad as of June 2010, taxing limited local resources. In addition to affecting internally displaced and refugee populations, the regional conflict continues to impact Chadian communities that host internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees, affecting local agriculture, livestock rearing, and other livelihood activities.

In addition, late-onset and erratic rainfall resulted in poor growing conditions for cereal crops and pastures throughout most Chadian regions during 2009, leading to a significant reduction in the cereal harvest in October and poor pasturage for livestock, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). A joint GoC, FAO, U.N. World Food Program (WFP), and USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) assessment conducted inDecember 2009 estimated that the inadequate cereal harvest had affected at least 2 million people in Chad.

On December 3, 2009, U.S. Chargé d'Affaires, a.i., Sue L. Bremner, reissued a disaster declaration in Chad due to the complex emergency and ongoing humanitarian needs.