EVALUATION OF THE EFFECT OF FLOOD ON THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC LIVELIHOOD OF URBAN COMMUNITIES

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1. Background of the Study

Floods, like drought and desertification, are natural hazards that arise as a result of excessive hydrological (runoff) event.. According to Bello and Jeb (2016), flooding is the most common natural catastrophe, with the frequency of documented flood incidents growing dramatically over the previous 20 years. According to United Nations-Water (2011), there has been a dramatic increase in the number of persons killed or badly injured by flood catastrophes, which affect an estimated 520 million people globally each year, resulting in up to 25 000 deaths in a single year. Floods are widespread across the planet, according to a history of flood occurrences provided in NASA's Earth Observatory (EO), which was cited in Bello, & Jeb (2016), with the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere seeing the most extreme flooding. According to Bello and Jeb (2016), extreme rainfall in Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru during December 2006 to January 2007 caused major flooding and landslides in those nations.

Significantly, the essence of flood attention in study is always linked to its origins, the consequences of severe property damage and even irreparable loss of life, and the control methods. Flood is one of the key problems preventing Africa's population from overcoming poverty, and flood victims are typically urban poor (Adetunji and Oyeleye, 2018). A flood occurs when a watercourse overflows its banks and submerges adjacent regions. To add to this, Egbinola, Olaniran, and Amanambu (2015) define flood as an overflow of a body of water that submerges land. Flood, as defined by the European Union (2007) and Adetunji et'al (2015), is a temporary covering of land by water that was not previously covered by water. Flooding, according to Nelson (2018), is a natural result of stream flow in a constantly changing environment. Flooding to Nelson represents abnormally high rates of discharge, frequently resulting in inundation of land near to streams, and is generally produced by severe or protracted rains.

Surprisingly, many settlements in Nigeria's coastal region, particularly in the Niger-Delta zone and among other places, have weak drainage systems and are thus prone to floods. Flooding threatens an estimated 25 million people, or 28 percent of Nigeria's population, who live in the coastal zone (NCAR, 2012). Flooding poses a significant risk to riverside populations and floodplains, as well as significant impacts on the environment, including aquatic fauna and flora and bank erosion (Twumasi, Merem, Ayala-Silva 2017). Therefore, risk assessment is required in order to determine the likelihood of flood occurrence and its negative implications. According to Twumasi et al. (2017), many aspects such as vulnerability and exposures must be considered in the real evaluation of catastrophe scenarios and losses. Thus , flood risk is the result of flood dangers, susceptibility, and exposure of people, which necessitates an appropriate response in order to minimize or lessen the consequences of flood.

1. 1. Statement of the Problem

In recent years, urban flooding has been identified as one of the most pressing and serious environmental concerns confronting municipal authorities in developing countries. Floods are the leading cause of catastrophe losses in Nigeria, according to the EM-DAT database (Komolafe et al., 2015b), and with the projected rise in rainfall intensity due to climate change, several river basins in the country are expected to flood. The impacts on both individuals and communities can have social, economic and environmental consequences which may be negative or positive (Apan, Keogh, King, Thomas, Mushtaq & Baddiley, 2010).Damage to infrastructure also causes long-term impacts, such as disruptions to supplies of clean water, wastewater treatment, electricity, transport, communication, education and health care. Loss of livelihoods, reduction in purchasing power and loss of land value in the floodplains can leave communities economically vulnerable (Bunn & Arthington, 2002). Floods can also traumatise victims and their families for long periods of time. The loss of loved ones has deep impacts, especially on children. Displacement from one's home, loss of property and disruption to business and social affairs can cause continuing stress. For some people the psychological impacts can be long lasting (Semi, 2010). According to Douglas, Bunn & Davies (2005), flooding in key agricultural production areas can lead to widespread damage to crops and fencing and loss of livestock. Crop losses through rain damage, waterlogged soils, and delays in harvesting are further intensified by transport problems due to flooded roads and damaged infrastructure. The flow-on effects of reduced agricultural production can often impact well outside the production area as food prices increase due to shortages in supply. On the other hand, flood events can result in long-term benefits to agricultural production by recharging water resource storages, especially in drier, inland areas, and by rejuvenating soil fertility by silt deposition.

Although these researchers have helped provide some information regarding flood, moreover, relatively few studies have concentrated on evaluation on the effect of flood on the socio-economic livelihood of urban communities. Upon this backdrop, this study seeks to investigation into the impact of flooding on Nigeria's sustainable development.

1. 1. Objective of the Study

The broad objectives of this is focused on evaluation on the effect of flood on the socio-economic livelihood of urban communities. Other specific objective includes:

1. Ascertain the causes of flood in urban communities in Nigeria.

2. Determine the effect of flood on socioeconomic development of urban communities in Nigeria.

3. Ascertain the extent flooding affects the socioeconomic livelihood of urban community residents in Nigeria.

1.4 Research Question

The study will be guided by the following questions;

1. What are the causes of flood in urban communities in Nigeria?

2. What is the effect of flood on socioeconomic development of urban communities in Nigeria?

3. What is the extent flooding affect the socioeconomic livelihood of urban community residents in Nigeria?

1.5 Significance of the Study

Flood events in many capital cities in Nigeria, are mostly due to the poor consciousness of the inhabitants on environmental information, inadequate (or sometimes absolute lack) of spatial information on the flood prone areas, waste dump and construction of buildings (both commercial and residential, even public offices) on river channel without adequate measure for water flow. To this end, the study assessed land use land cover changes in the study area, examined the socio-economic and environmental impacts of the hazards on the study area, generated flood risk and vulnerability maps as well as flood hazard models of the area using the factor criteria such as soil, elevation, rainfall and land use; slope and drainage density of the basin and finally modelled river hazards by producing a river model of the main drainage channel in the area in order to predict its tendency to flood in the future. The output of this study can serve as policy and decision-making tools for future food hazard analysis, prevention and reduction plans at the research location.The study will contribute to general body of knowledge on integration modelling for flood risk locations and serve as reference material for scholars who desire conduct further research on this topic.

1.6 Scope of the Study

The scope of this study borders on the effect of flood on the socio-economic livelihood of urban communities. Empirically this study will explore the causes of flood in urban communities in Nigeria, the effect of flood on socioeconomic development of urban communities in Nigeria, and the extent flooding affects the socioeconomic livelihood of urban community residents in Nigeria.

The study will be carried out in selected communities in Lokoja, Kogi State.

1.7 Limitation of the Study

This research project, like all human endeavors, had some challenges that threatened to derail the study's completion. One of the reasons is that the time allotted for this work was so limited that the researcher did not have enough time to complete the task thoroughly. During data collection, the researcher also had to put forth extra effort to understand the respondents' interview schedules, several of whom fell into the incomprehensible age group. Also, there were financial and transportation constraints to deal with. Insufficient funds tend to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing the relevant materials, literature, or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire, interview).

1.8 Definition of Terms

Flood: A flood is an overflow of water that submerges land that is usually dry.

Impact: The strong effect or influence that something has on a situation or person.

Sustainable development: Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend.

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