Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Resilience in Chad: The Issues Shaping IFAD's Action

1. General context

Agriculture plays a central role in Chad's economy: it accounts for nearly 38% of GDP and supports around 70% of the population, mostly through family-run agropastoral farms. The country has significant agro-silvo-pastoral potential, but it remains largely underexploited, facing a structural deficit in staple food production, high exposure to climate shocks (rainfall variability, recurring floods, advancing desertification) and limited access to basic rural infrastructure (roads, irrigation schemes, markets).

IFAD has supported Chad for several decades through a succession of country strategic frameworks (COSOP 1999-2009, COSOP 2010-2015, Country Strategy Note 2017-2019, COSOP 2020-2025). A country programme evaluation conducted in February 2026 covered a cumulative portfolio of more than USD 370 million over the past ten years and concluded that performance was broadly satisfactory. Its findings will form the basis for the development, in 2026, of the new country strategic framework (COSOP), which will set cooperation priorities for the coming years.

2. Productivity and resilience of family agropastoral farms

IFAD's main vehicle for action in Chad has long been the RePER project (Strengthening Productivity and Resilience of Agropastoral Family Farms), with total funding of EUR 81.9 million, of which EUR 54.6 million was provided by IFAD. Deployed in the country's Sahelian zone (Guéra, Batha, Hadjer Lamis, Chari Baguirmi and Salamat), the project reached more than 208,500 households — over a million people — through irrigation schemes, rural road rehabilitation, intensification of family production systems and support for the marketing of agropastoral products.

Results recorded over the life of the project show agricultural yield gains of 30 to 50% depending on the year, and more than 15,000 market gardeners and agropastoral producers trained through farmer field schools (FFS) — an extension approach that has demonstrated its capacity to drive near-universal adoption of the techniques taught among beneficiaries. These results illustrate the importance, for IFAD, of combining physical infrastructure, on-the-ground agricultural advisory support and the organizational strengthening of producers.

3. Youth and women's entrepreneurship in agro-silvo-pastoral value chains

Following RePER, Chad and IFAD launched the RENFORT project (Agropastoral Entrepreneurship Innovation Strengthening Project), with funding of more than USD 100 million over six years, also mobilizing the Green Climate Fund. The project, which covers nine provinces (including Lac-Tchad, Chari-Baguirmi, Mayo Kebbi-Est, Moyen-Chari, Mandoul, Tandjilé, Salamat and N'Djamena), targets around 82,000 direct beneficiaries — 70% of them youth and 30% women — and 435,000 indirect beneficiaries.

RENFORT's central objective is to promote the sustainable economic integration of young people into agro-silvo-pastoral and fisheries value chains, through the development of micro, small and medium agricultural enterprises. The project reflects a strategic shift for IFAD, from direct support to production toward support for processing, marketing and the creation of decent jobs for rural youth, in a country where demographic pressure on agricultural land is intensifying.

4. Climate change adaptation and natural resource management

Chad is one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in Africa, with increasing rainfall variability, a worrying evolution of pastoral biomass and growing pressure on Sahelian rangelands shared between agriculture and extensive transhumant livestock farming. To address this, IFAD mobilizes complementary financing dedicated to adaptation, notably through the ASAP+ programme (Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme), which supports groundwater monitoring, strengthens technical agricultural departments and funds specific activities around Lake Fitri.

Chad is also part of regional Sahelian initiatives, such as the Joint Programme for the Sahel (FAO/IFAD/WFP/G5 Sahel) in response to the combined challenges of COVID-19, conflict and climate change, as well as a regional climate resilience programme covering seven Sahel countries and targeting cereal value chains (millet, maize, sorghum, groundnut) and livestock (cattle, sheep, goats, poultry).

5. Cross-cutting levers: energy, digital tools and local presence for IFAD projects

The three preceding pillars — agropastoral productivity, youth and women's entrepreneurship, climate resilience — converge on a common finding: the performance of IFAD projects in Chad largely depends on two underlying infrastructures. On one hand, access to energy determines the functioning of irrigation systems, the preservation of harvests (drying, storage, cold rooms) and the local processing of agropastoral products in rural areas often disconnected from the national grid.

On the other hand, the digitization and security of monitoring tools — RePER and RENFORT beneficiary tracking, GIS mapping of irrigation schemes, value chain traceability — strengthen the management capacity of Project Coordination and Management Units (PCMUs) and facilitate reporting to IFAD. To be sustainable, these technical solutions must rely on local expertise capable of ensuring maintenance, adaptation to the Chadian context and coordination with national authorities.

6. Collaboration pathways for Chadian economic operators

Projects funded by IFAD in Chad generate concrete opportunities for local economic operators, through national tenders covering infrastructure works (rural roads, irrigation schemes, project coordination buildings), the supply of agricultural equipment, and service provision (training, advisory support, technical studies), procured under Chad's public procurement code in line with IFAD's procurement guidelines. MEDASH SARL, an N'Djamena-based firm active in economic and sociological studies, IT integration, and the supply of equipment and internet services, identifies four concrete collaboration pathways:

1. Solar electrification of agricultural infrastructure. Deployment of solar kits and mini-grids for irrigation systems, drying, storage and cold rooms for agropastoral products in RePER and RENFORT intervention areas, to reduce post-harvest losses and extend the value chain locally.
2. Digitization and traceability of agro-silvo-pastoral value chains. Implementation of beneficiary tracking tools, GIS mapping of irrigation schemes and interoperable reporting platforms, tailored to the monitoring and evaluation requirements of Project Coordination and Management Units (PCMUs).
3. Economic and sociological studies and territorial diagnostics. Value chain mapping (millet, maize, sorghum, groundnut, cattle, sheep, goats, poultry), feasibility studies and area diagnostics to support the development of the new country strategic framework (COSOP 2026) and guide the investments of technical and financial partners.
4. Support for Chadian operators on IFAD public tenders. Monitoring of tenders related to IFAD projects, support for compliance with procurement procedures, and local representation — based in N'Djamena — in the rural implementation areas, a frequent requirement for bidders not established on site.

7. Summary

The issues shaping IFAD's action in Chad revolve around four complementary pillars: sustainably increasing family agropastoral productivity, the economic integration of youth and women into agro-silvo-pastoral and fisheries value chains, strengthening the climate resilience of production systems, and the operational implementation of territorially-based projects mobilizing significant financing.

The upcoming development of the new country strategic framework (COSOP) 2026 represents a key moment for Chadian economic and institutional actors wishing to engage with this dynamic. MEDASH is available to IFAD, its project coordination units, and technical and financial partners wishing to explore any of these pathways as part of their programming in Chad.

Sources

• Tchadinfos, "Chad: IFAD evaluates a portfolio of more than USD 370 million over the past 10 years," 7 February 2026.
• Tchadinfos, "The RENFORT project, the result of Chad-IFAD cooperation, is launched," 4 April 2023.
• Agence Ecofin, "Chad: IFAD launches a project to strengthen the productivity of agropastoral farms."
• IFAD, "Strengthening Productivity and Resilience of Agropastoral Family Farms Project (RePER)," ifad.org.
• IFAD, RePER Supervision Report, October 2024.
• IFAD, RePER Design Document, EB-2018-124-R-24, August 2018.
• FAO, National Rural Sector Investment Plan (PNISR) of Chad.