Around 1.67 million children under the age of five are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2022, with around 335,000 severe cases in the areas studied. A total of five provinces and 52 departments in Chad were investigated for this study.
When compared to the latest IPC study for the same period in 2020, a modest drop in instances of acute malnutrition is expected between October and December 2021, with two provinces and 16 departments classified as Serious (IPC Phase 3) and two provinces and 11 departments rated as Critical (IPC Phase 4).
This precarious nutritional situation is the result of a combination of several aggravating factors, such as inadequate food intake, poor infant and young child feeding practices, a high prevalence of childhood diseases, lack of access to healthcare, an increase in the frequency of measles outbreaks, low measles vaccination coverage, low vitamin A supplementation coverage, poor hygiene conditions, low coverage of access to drinking water, and low coverage of nutritional and health interventions. Other contributing factors include ongoing conflict and insecurity, acute food insecurity in some provinces, and the consequences of climate change (flooding, drought, poor rainfall distribution).
The nutritional status is unlikely to improve throughout the first projection period, which runs from January to May 2022. Despite the fact that food availability is acceptable in most areas, the above-mentioned factors unrelated to food security continue to be drivers of acute malnutrition. Three provinces and 17 departments are expected to be in a Serious situation (IPC Phase 3) at this time, while two provinces and 12 departments would be in a Critical condition (IPC Phase 4). A significant deterioration in the nutritional situation is expected for the second projection period, which runs from June to September 2022 and corresponds to the peak period for malnutrition, with two provinces and 17 departments projected to be in a Serious situation and three provinces and 12 departments projected to be in a Critical situation. Except for a minor improvement in the Lac province, the severity of the nutritional situation during this era is projected to be similar to that witnessed in 2020.
Urgent and concerted steps are required to alleviate the impact of this catastrophic nutritional situation.
