The role of local community leaders in flood disaster risk management strategy making in Accra

Abstract

Flood disasters have upward trends and devastating impacts in cities worldwide. This problem could be due to lack of participation of flood prone community leaders in flood risk management strategy making. Institutional challenges, lack of technical expertise and conflicts could exclude stakeholders from flood management. This research investigates the participation of flood-prone community leaders in flood risk management strategy making in Accra. Flood-prone communities bear direct impacts of floods. Community leaders can influence flood risk management in their neighbourhoods if they participate in the strategy making of the city authorities. However, it is unclear if leaders of flood-prone communities participate in strategy making for flood disaster risk management in Accra. This study seeks to answer the following research questions: Do flood prone community leaders in the city of Accra participate in flood risk management strategy making? How are the local community leaders involved in the flood risk management strategy making? This qualitative research obtained data from secondary and primary sources. Documents analysis provided the secondary data whereas the primary data were obtained from face-to-face interviews and focus group discussion. The research findings revealed that flood prone community leaders participate only in the implementation stage of flood risk management strategies. The paper concludes that an effective flood risk management strategy making, and implementation require active participation and role play of flood prone community leaders.