The Moyen-Chari
prefecture in southern Chad is subdivided into the departments
of: Barh Koh, Barh Sara, Grande Sido, Lac Iro and Mandoul.
From pre-independence to 1979, Moyen-Chari was one of the
most productive regions in Chad, and the department of Grande
Sido for instance was for many years, the country's number
1 per capita producer for cotton, the country's main cash
crop. However, since the onset of the civil strife in 1979,
the Moyen-Chari rapidly succumbed to either ethnic discrimination
or simply government neglect, and has been steadily drifting
into the state of absolute decay that we see today. The area
suffered the most damage in terms of physical structures and
human lives during the massive killings known to all Chadians
as “Black September” in 1984. To this date, there
has been very little to no reconstruction or development efforts
in the Moyen-Chari, despite its favorable climate and potential
for significant Agricultural production. To make matters worse,
Moyen-Chari recently became home to some 60, 000 refugees
from Central African Republic, adding more strain to its already
scarce resources
Poverty
in the Moyen-Chari is characterized by a predominantly rural
economy, poor social indicators (life expectancy, infant mortality),
primitive infrastructure, poor education system, substandard
housing and lack of clean drinking water. Food related poverty
in Chad is highest in the Moyen-Chari prefecture, affecting
57.1% of households and the incidence of overall poverty is
also highest in the Moyen-Chari at 58.1%. In fact, poverty
in the Moyen-Chari is so deep that some parents went to the
extent of selling their own children into slavery, in the
21st Century. The education system in the Moyen-Chari is marked
by poor performance, precarious nature of classrooms (65 percent
are made of non-durable materials), obsolete teaching programs,
lack of adequate textbooks and school tuition fees that rural
families cannot afford. Computer literacy has yet to reach
high schools and grade schools in the Moyen-Chari
Less than
3% of the population in Chad has access to electricity. In
the Moyen-Chari, only the city of Sarh has limited access
to electricity. The departments of Grande Sido, Mandoul, Barh
Koh and Barh Sara, all lack access to modern energy services.
Families throughout these regions continue to rely on traditional
fuel sources such as firewood, charcoal and cow dung, the
use of which has severe health, environmental and social effects.
Furthermore, the recent government ban on the use of firewood
is making life more and more difficult for poor rural families
who cannot afford gas or kerozene stoves to cook food.
Barh Koh
ESDA welcomes the recent government's call to close the chapter
on the country's dark past and to work towards rebuilding
the much maligned Moyen-Chari. We hope to play a significant
role in capacity building through educational support and
training, as well as research on agro-silvo-pastoral systems
for sustainable environmental and development in the Moyen-Chari,
but we need your help! We herby call upon all sons and daughters
of Moyen-Chari and all Chadians inside and outside the country,
and we also call upon friends of Chad all over the world to
join us today and help make this beautiful land that we call
Moyen-Chari - and - Chad, a better place to live!
Titki
D. Tarassoum, Founder & President
Barh Koh ESDA
titki@barhkoh.org
