International records / African Development Bank

Multinational - Lake Chad Basin Sustainable Development Programme (Prodebalt) - Project Completion Report

The drastic shrinking of the surface area of Lake Chad, noted over the past decades, has led to the disruption of farmlands and a decrease in fish production. The surface area of the lake has dropped from 25 000 square kilometres to 2 500 square kilometres over 45 years and its depth from 6 metres on average to less than 3 metres currently. The volume of the lake was 60 billion cubic metres and depth 281.5 metres. It is currently estimated at 46 billion cubic metres due to silting and sedimentation of solid material transported from its basin by wind and runoff. The drying-up of the lake and d…