Paper Short Abstract:

Drawing on ethnographic field research in Northern Cameroon and Chad, this paper explores local waterscapes in the Lake Chad basin, looking at life experiences, reconfigured subjectivities and policies tackling both excess water (flooding) and water scarcity in a context of global climate change.

Paper Abstract:

Lake Chad is the largest endorheic basin in Africa and one of the largest wetlands in the world (Magrin, Lemoalle and Pourtier 2015). Spanning four countries, this borderland has been experiencing both intense droughts associated with drinking water scarcity and flooding in the past decades. These predicaments have occurred against the backdrop of global climate change and increased pressure on natural resources locally (Raimond et al.2020; Rangé 2015). In this context, populations of the basin have developed endogenous practices to adapt to this challenging waterscape, as exemplified by informal pound management and water-sharing schemes (Sambo 2021). Such practices have highlighted the agency and resilience of local communities in varying economic sectors (fishers, herders, farmers, among others). In addition, policies initiated by local governmental organizations and transnational funding bodies have addressed both water scarcities and excess in an attempt to stabilize local waterscapes. These policies borrow simultaneously from modernist discourses which strive to tame waterscapes on a large-scale and from smaller, pragmatic endeavours that focus on adaptability and incremental change.

Drawing on ethnographic field research in Northern Cameroon and Chad, this paper explores local waterscapes as a continuum (Swyngedouw 1999; Lavie, Crombé, et Marshall 2020; Baviskar 2003) in the Lake Chad basin. It analyses reconfigured subjectivities and resilience mechanisms envisioned by local communities and illustrated by endogeneous pratices. Additionally, it examines how local experiences of the waterscape are affected by natural disaster response mechanisms and infrastructural development projects.