Climate Security, Natural Resource Conflict, & Community Resilience in the Lake Chad Basin: A Review of the Literature

The Lake Chad Basin is experiencing severe climate change impacts—including declining rainfall, rising temperatures, droughts, flooding, and shrinking water bodies—that are accelerating livelihood insecurity and ecological collapse. These environmental stresses are acting as threat multipliers, heightening competition over land, water, and fisheries, and intensifying intercommunal violence and displacement across Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria. Climate-driven livelihood pressures intersect with structural fragility, contributing to recruitment into violent extremist groups such as Boko Haram and ISWAP, while conflict dynamics further undermine coping capacities and social cohesion. A range of responses is underway, led by regional bodies (LCBC), national governments, international partners (UNDP, GEF, World Bank), and local communities, focusing on adaptation, ecosystem restoration, natural resource governance, and resilience-building. However, gaps remain in institutional capacity, climate-security governance, and inclusion of vulnerable groups—particularly women—whose adaptive options are constrained. Strengthening resilience will require integrated climate-security strategies, robust early-warning systems, empowered local institutions, and investments in sustainable livelihoods.