Overview
By most estimates, 80 percent of Chad’s population relies on agriculture, livestock, or fishing. The market is primarily domestic, and Chad imports a significant number of foodstuffs from Cameroon. There is little value-added production of agricultural products. Chad’s primary agricultural exports include gum arabic, sesame, and cotton. The Government of Chad prioritized industrialization of agriculture and boosting exports in its 2017 - 2021 national development plan to reduce dependence on oil exports and increase tax revenue. Chad exported USD 33.8 million of sesame seeds and USD 21.5 million of gum Arabic in 2019, according to the International Trade Centre. Other potential export crops include peanuts, shea butter, hibiscus, cashews, dates, moringa, and spirulina.
Leading Sub-Sectors
Leading sub-sectors in agriculture include: seeds; farm tractors; fertilizers; farming implements; irrigation systems; harvesting equipment; and food processing and packaging equipment.
Opportunities
The Government of Chad and Chadian entrepreneurs seek to improve agricultural production in Chad through modernization, mechanization, better seeds, improved irrigation, and food processing and packaging. There is demand for agricultural equipment and inputs from both the government and private sector. Lack of access to capital is a constraint in this area.
Chad is the second largest global producer of premium grade gum arabic. Chadian producers currently sell to intermediaries and wholesalers to export to the United States, China, and Europe. Producers are interested in exporting directly to the United States. Chadian partners seek relationships with U.S. importers to facilitate direct exports.
Chad is one of the world’s largest suppliers of sesame seed. White and black sesame seeds are grown in southern and central Chad. Other foods, e.g. mangos, cashews, peanuts, and dates, are widely grown in Chad but are not packaged, processed, or exported. This presents an opportunity for U.S. investment.
There is a growing market for natural products from Chad. At least one U.S. company is exporting Chadian shea butter to the United States and China. There is small-scale production of moringa, spirulina, karaya gum, hibiscus, and other natural products. Chadian producers and intermediaries seek new markets for these goods, and there are opportunities for export and investment in value-added processing and packaging.
Resources
Chad Ministry of Agriculture: www.minagri-tchad.org
SAFAGRI: http://safagri.cilss.int/index.php/safagri-2019/
For further information, please contact the U.S. Embassy in N’Djamena at Ndjamena-Commercial@state.gov.
Livestock
Overview
Chad is a leading producer of livestock on the continent. Chad refers to itself as a livestock country “par excellence” and is the fourth largest African producer of livestock (defined as camels, cattle, goats, sheep, and pigs). Data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimated Chad possessed 107 million heads of livestock in 2018: 37 million goats, 31 million sheep, 29 million cattle, and 8 million camels. Chad has relatively small populations of pigs and chickens, ranking 27th and 35th out of 54 African countries, respectively.
Despite a massive livestock population, Chad currently has no functional industrial abattoirs (slaughterhouses) and makes limited use of valued-added animal products such as leather and buttons due to limited electricity and poor infrastructure. There are significant opportunities for intrepid American investors in the production and transformation of the flocks and herds of animals that flourish in Chad’s vast plains.
Leading Sub-Sectors
Sub-sectors include meat processing equipment, leather production, animal health and vaccines, and milk production and processing.
Opportunities
Livestock, including cattle, camels, and goats, present manifold opportunities for investment, particularly construction of feedlots and slaughterhouses, including smaller mobile facilities, meeting the standards of the World Organization for Animal Health, as well as improving laboratories and resuscitating Chad’s capacity to produce animal vaccines. Chad has no operational commercial abattoirs as of August 2020 and minimal value-added processing of animal products into leather, buttons, and other final products. Opportunities for investment also include livestock breeding and feed production.
Resources
For further information, please contact the U.S. Embassy in N’Djamena at Ndjamena-Commercial@state.gov.