The focus of the Causal Chain Analysis (CCA) is to determine the root causes of freshwater shortage in the selected hotspots, so that the driving forces of the issues can be addressed by policy makers rather than the more visible causes. Casual chain analysis traces the cause-effect pathways, associated with the freshwater shortage concern in the Chari-Logone/Lake Chad and the Komadugu-Yobe hotspots, from the socio-economic and environmental impacts back to the root causes. The root causes can then be targeted by appropriate policy measures. Separate analyses were carried out for these two systems.