The corridor to survival: Assessment of disaster management literacy in a developing country

Abstract

AbstractStudies have stressed the importance of disaster literacy and suggested that such awareness is an effective disaster management strategy. The success of this recommendation is however scarcely assessed in literature. This study therefore assesses the application of available disaster‐related information in the management of disasters. The study was carried out in Ibadan, Nigeria. Data were collected by administering a questionnaire to residents in the selected Local Government Area (LGA) in Ibadan. Using systematic sampling technique, household heads’ opinions were sampled in 20% of the buildings. This effort culminated in the sampling of 102 household heads in the LGA. The questionnaire addressed issues on household socioeconomic characteristics; sources, types, and manners of utilization of disaster‐related information available to the households as well as the effects of available disaster‐related information on disaster management. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results showed that 47.9% of the respondents were aware of post‐disaster information, with television or radio (38.5%) and government agencies (26.6%) being the major information sources. It is suggested that disaster management literacy can be properly enhanced if households are provided with practical knowledge of effective pre‐disaster, during‐disaster, and post‐disaster information.