Assessing flood vulnerability on livelihood of the local community: A case from southern Bagmati corridor of Nepal

Abstract

Flood is one of the prominent hazards in the Terai region of Nepal. This study was objectively conducted to assess the livelihood vulnerability of community living in the up-stream, mid-stream and down-stream regions at southern Bagmati River corridor, Nepal. To meet the objective, primary data were collected through house hold survey using random sampling technique with 25% (182 HHs) sample size, focus group discussion (6) and key informant interview (15) carried out in Rautahat and Sarlahi districts of Nepal to accomplish this task. A pre-tested semi-questionnaire and check list was prepared based on the method of LVI given. LVI- IPCC was also used to collect required information. The results showed that the highest indexed value of socio-economic component was 0.360 of community living in the down-stream region and the least value was 0.157 of local people living in the up-stream region. Similarly, the indexed value of livelihood component was the highest (about 0.493) of the community living in the mid-stream belt. The indexed value of social network component was the highest (about 0.590) of the community living at mid-stream belt. But the indexed value of financial component was the highest (0.686) in the down-stream region. The indexed value of physical component was the highest (1) of the community living in the mid-stream region. The highest indexed value (0.464) was found of community living in the down-stream area. The indexed value of water resource component was the highest (0.366) of community living in the down-stream area. Similarly, the indexed value of natural hazard and climate variability component was the highest (0.579) of community living in the down-stream region. The livelihood vulnerability index values were the highest (0.528) of the community living in the down-stream belt. This indicates that the community living in the down-stream area was the most vulnerable to flood, but the community living in the up-stream belt the least vulnerable (0.323). The value of exposure was the highest (about 0.579) of community living in the down-stream belt while this was the lowest (about 0.291) of the community living in the up-stream belt. The sensitivity value was the highest (around 0.465) of the community living in the down-stream belt. The adaptive capacity was the highest (around 0.496) of the community living in the down-stream region. This also indicates that communities living in the down-stream area are most vulnerable to the flood. This study helps the scientific community to understand the differential effect of flood on up-stream and down-stream communities