Consequently, the UN agency is planning a special event, tagged ''Save the Lake Chad'', for Rome, Italy, on Friday to draw attention to the problems facing the lake and mobilise funds to redress the situation.
In a statement obtained by PANA here Thursday, the FAO expressed great concern about the fate of the dependent people who straddle Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria.
According to the FAO, Lake Chad that was once one of the biggest water reservoirs in the world has shrunk by 90 per cent, going from 25,000 km2 in 1963 down to less than 1500 km2 in 2001.
The fate of the lake has been blamed on the global climate change and demographic pressure.
"If the level of the water goes on falling at its current pace, this lake will disappear in about 20 years, according to the forecast by the US National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA)," warned the FAO.
According to the UN body, some 30 million people live in the Lake Chad region, and they are suffering enormously from the drying out of the lake and the deterioration of the capacities of agricultural production in the area.
The FAO noted that all the socio-economic activities were affected by the problem, and that the over-exploitation of water and land resources generates some conflicts and migrations.
According to the Lake Chad Basin Commission that was created in 1964, "the drying out of the sources of supply in water require a radical change in the techniques of management of the water and a plan to reco nstitute the lake".
Dakar - 15/10/2009
Pana
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