ANALYSIS OF PARTICIPATORY DIMENSIONS OF LANDSLIDE DISASTER AND RISK MANAGEMENT IN SOME RURAL COMMUNITIES OF SOUTH EASTERN NIGERIA

Abstract

Landslide disaster is increasingly receiving severe attention because of their devastating effects on the environment and people's economic interests despite the mitigative efforts made by stakeholders to minimize their impacts. The study assesses the effectiveness of several interventions to reduce the adverse effects of landslides in parts of southeastern Nigeria. Data were collected from purposively sampled locations, including Boki, Obanliku, Calabar and Biase in Cross River State, using a questionnaire survey, participatory rural appraisal, field inventory and measurement. The study used both descriptive and inferential statistics for data analyses. Results revealed that climate change and human activities were the primary causes of landslides attracting 98% and 95%, respectively. Results further show that landslide occurrence has significantly affected socio-economic activities in the areas and is the primary cause of biophysical degradation. Also, the study indicated that the efforts of various stakeholders in terms of financial support (65%), building materials (60%), and food items (64%), were not yielding sustainable results. The one-way analysis of variance of the results of stakeholders' involvement in landslide risk reduction measures shows an F-ratio of 2.02, which is less than the calculated value of 2.87 at 0.05 levels of significance. Therefore, there is no statistical difference in the effectiveness and commitment of stakeholders. Furthermore, the empirical results obtained from ANOVA on the efficacy of landslide risk reduction measures produce an F-ratio of 1.171, which is less than the tabulated value of 2,69 at 0.05 level of significance. This result confirms that the effectiveness of landslide reduction measures across the sample communities does not vary significantly. This implies that all the respondents gave an almost equal rating of the risk reduction measures. It is recommended that environmental awareness activities be promoted, and human activities that are likely to enhance occurrence in vulnerable areas should be discouraged.