Vulnerable communities across Chad are now receiving improved climate, meteorological and hydrological services, along with life-saving early warnings, following the successful completion of a six-year project funded by the Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS) initiative.
The US$3.15 million project, implemented between 2019 and 2025, was designed to strengthen Chad’s national capacity to deliver climate and early warning services in key sectors and high-risk communities. Led by the World Bank’s Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), with US$1.5 million implemented by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the initiative has laid the foundation for a more integrated, modern and people-centred early warning system in the country. The programme is now set to be scaled up with additional support from the Green Climate Fund.
Chad has faced a growing number of hydro-meteorological disasters in recent years, including floods and droughts that have affected up to 2.4 million people. Recurrent droughts have severely impacted agricultural production, a sector that employs more than 80% of the workforce and contributes 21% to the country’s gross domestic product. Before the project began, Chad’s early warning capacity was largely limited to monitoring drought and food insecurity, with flood forecasting still at a pilot stage and no official mechanisms in place for severe weather alerts.
The CREWS Chad project sought to transform this landscape by strengthening institutions, expanding observation networks, improving forecasting capabilities and enhancing last-mile service delivery to communities.
Institutional capacity enhanced
The project reinforced the technical and operational capacity of key national institutions, including the Agence Nationale de la Météorologie (ANAM), the Directorate for Water Resources (DRE) and the Agence Nationale de la Protection Civile (DGPC). Strategic plans were developed, along with a national roadmap aligned with the Early Warnings for All initiative.
Improved coordination was another major achievement, with national agencies successfully managing and aligning more than a dozen parallel projects supported by international organizations and development banks.
Observation network expanded
Significant improvements were made to Chad’s meteorological and hydrological observation systems. Between 2019 and 2023, under a separate UNDP National Adaptation Plan project, 70 meteorological stations, 15 hydrological stations and 215 rain gauges were installed, greatly expanding national coverage. However, these systems were not initially connected to the WMO Information System.
With CREWS support and technical assistance from NORCAP and WMO’s regional office for Africa, ANAM installed its own WIS2Box node in October 2024, complete with an automatic data loader. This enabled the country to share data from 24 stations internationally every hour, in line with Global Basic Observing Network requirements. Hydrological stations were also linked to AGRHYMET, and virtual hydrological stations were established to strengthen monitoring capacity.
Data digitization and management
Recognizing the importance of historical data in understanding present-day climate risks, the project renovated a national data archive facility and digitized 80% of Chad’s historical climatological records. These records are scheduled to be integrated into a climate data management system in 2026, in accordance with WMO’s Open Climate Data Management System strategy. This will allow authorities to compare forecasts with historical events and their impacts, improving risk analysis and decision-making.
Forecasting capabilities upgraded
The project also supported design studies for a national forecasting centre, to be funded under an ongoing World Bank initiative and jointly operated by ANAM and DRE.
International partnerships enhanced forecasting tools. Improved sand and dust storm forecasts were delivered through collaboration with the Barcelona Dust Regional Specialized Centre. Partnerships with Météo-France and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts enabled the development of a new sub-seasonal forecasting tool capable of predicting intra-seasonal variability up to six weeks in advance.
Collaboration with EUMETSAT and Spain’s meteorological service introduced nowcasting technology to track severe convective storms hours before impact. Flood forecasts produced by AGRHYMET and the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute further strengthened national flood monitoring and early warning systems.
Together, these initiatives significantly expanded the range, quality and usability of forecasts available to decision-makers and communities.
Improved service delivery at community level
Early warning dissemination has also improved markedly. With the launch of an open-source website equipped with a Common Alerting Protocol composer, ANAM published 248 alert bulletins in 2025, many of which are visible through the WMO Severe Weather Information System. The system is currently under evaluation by Google Public Alert.
At the local level, pilot dissemination mechanisms were successfully established in Linia, Maïlaou-Tchendjou and Bongor. Nearly 600 people were trained to contribute to, disseminate and use weather and climate information to improve agricultural productivity and reduce losses. Agreements with three community radio stations ensured that location-specific bulletins and recommendations were broadcast to residents.
Feedback from communities has been used to refine bulletins and tailor services to local needs, reinforcing the project’s people-centred approach.
With its strengthened institutional framework, expanded observation network, enhanced forecasting tools and improved community outreach, Chad is now better positioned to anticipate and respond to extreme weather and climate risks. The upcoming scale-up with Green Climate Fund support is expected to further consolidate these gains and extend early warning coverage nationwide.