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Chad climate disaster leaves record 2.1 million people hungry
According to United Nations agencies, severe drought followed by the worst floods in 30 years have led to rocketing food prices and left a record 2.1 million people in Chad acutely hungry.
Floods are not uncommon during the west African country’s rainy season, which usually runs from May to October in its central and southern regions. But this time, the rains came early and were more abundant, quickly overwhelming drainage channels and ponds.
“The country has not recorded such a quantity of rainwater since 1990,” Idriss Abdallah Hassan, a senior official at the state weather agency told the Reuters news agency on Monday, describing the situation as catastrophic.
“Entire towns have found themselves under water,” he said.
The United Nations children's fund said, as a result of the climate disaster, 10% of all children under five are affected by severe malnutrition, and one in three will suffer from stunted growth.
On a bed at the Notre Dame des Apotres Hospital in the capital N'Djamena, Fatimé Mahamat Idriss feeds her gaunt toddler through a feeding tube.
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When the harvest failed, her husband sought work in a gold mine in the north, leaving no food for their three children.
According to the World Bank, Chad's total population is 16.4 million.
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