Flood and Female Headed Households in Illah Rural Community of Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

Flash floods are common features in Nigeria during the rainy season (May-October), but the flood events of August-October 2012 in Nigeria which can be described as the worst in 40 years gave rise to situations where rivers overflowed their banks and submerged hundreds of kilometers of urban and rural lands. Flood disasters are major threats to human-beings and reverse major developmental processes in any locality, hampering socio/economic activities. Most of the rural areas affected by this flood have high poverty levels and many Female headed households. The poverty level affects the resilience and process of recovery from the flood disaster especially for the Female Headed Households as they are more vulnerable to flood impacts. Flood disaster mitigation in Female Headed Households needs to address socio-economic issues and coping strategies. This paper seeks to communicate the impact of the floods on the socio-economic status of livelihood and the coping strategies of female headed households in Illah community and environs of Delta State, Nigeria. Utilizing structured questionnaires and focus group discussions/interviews the study identified that the major livelihood of sampled female Headed households were crop production. 100% of the female headed households had their crops damaged and mainly the staple crops thus increasing food insecurity for the households. Their incomes were affected significantly as income source is imbedded in livelihood. This reduction in income also increased their vulnerability. The ANOVA test shows that there is a significant difference among households in terms of their flood coping strategies. Utilizing the factor analysis it was identified that the coping strategies employed by female headed households is majorly a function of three factors namely: poverty, area of residence and location of economic activity and lack of alternative livelihood. The current coping strategies being employed by female headed households are ineffective. There is a dire need for the female headed households to be given priority in times of aids provision during and after any natural disaster. Efforts are to be made by the communities at formulating sustainable mitigation measures in order to enhance community resilience in view of frequency/magnitude of floods experienced. Adequate funding towards risk mapping, monitoring and implementation of preparedness/mitigation measures should be implemented. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2015.v4n2p109