Making medical history in the Lake Chad Basin: field constraints, methodological challenges, and research opportunities

This Research Note examines the methodological, epistemological, and ethical complexities of conducting medical and health history research in the Lake Chad Basin – a region marked by environmental degradation, structural fragility, humanitarian saturation, and therapeutic pluralism. Drawing on long-term fieldwork in northern Cameroon and Chad, it shows how data collection becomes a contested and politicized process entangled with non-governmental organizations and security actors. Researchers are often perceived not as neutral observers, but as agents of extraction or surveillance operating in saturated informational environments shaped by unmet promises and mistrust. These dynamics – including climate-induced precarity and livelihood disruptions – generate epistemic fatigue and raise questions about positionality, data reliability, and the risks of visibility in sensitive settings. The Research Note foregrounds context-sensitive strategies and grounded decisions while identifying opportunities for generative engagement and contributes to debates on methodological pluralism and the politics of knowledge production.