United Nations Radio

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization warned on Thursday that a humanitarian disaster is looming at the shrinking Lake Chad in Central Africa.

Lake Chad's receding waters

The agency says the crisis in Lake Chad, which is surrounded by Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria should be urgently addressed.

According to FAO, the lake, which was once one of the world's largest water bodies, has shrunk by 90 per cent, from 25,000 square kilometers in 1963 to less than 1,500 in 2001.

It says this is due to climate variability, climate change and population pressure.

If water continues to recede at the current rate, Lake Chad could disappear in about twenty years from now, according to climate forecasts by NASA, the United States space agency.

Together with the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC), FAO is organizing a special event ("Saving Lake Chad: A System under Threat") in Rome during World Food Day on October 16, 2009.

FAO says the event is aimed at raising awareness about the disastrous situation of Lake Chad and mobilizing funds to replenish the lake and improve overall food security in the region.

Gail Walker, United Nations Radio
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