Household Vulnerability and Adaptation Options in Resource-Poor Communities in Accra, Ghana
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Date
2016-10
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University of Ghana
Abstract
The current impact of climate variability highlights the need for an increased understanding of the
relationship between climate-sensitive disasters such as floods, vulnerability, and
adaptation/coping strategies of households. With few exceptions, given the variations in sociodemographic
and economic characteristics, floods tend to have a disproportionate impact on
resource-poor urban communities, particularly in developing countries.
This study aimed to; (1) identify indicators of household vulnerability to floods and compute a
household vulnerability index, (2) compare household’s perceived vulnerability to flood to the
computed vulnerability, and finally (3) examine the relationship between the various components
of households’ vulnerability and selected household coping/adaptation options. The source of data
was a cross-sectional community survey from two resource-poor urban communities:
Agbogbloshie and James Town in Accra, Ghana.
Results showed that households in Agbogbloshie were more vulnerable to floods compared to their
counterparts in James Town. More than half of the households underestimated their vulnerability
to floods when compared to their computed vulnerability index. Among female household heads,
those married and those who were unemployed were more likely to underestimate their
vulnerability compared to those who were unmarried and employed. Among male household
heads, a quadratic relationship was found between their age in years and underestimation of
vulnerability. The relationship indicates that the likelihood to underestimate vulnerability to floods
decreases as the age of the male household head increases up to a turning point (45 years), beyond
which they become more likely to underestimate vulnerability. Components of household’s
Adaptive capacity- sociodemographic profile, social capital- and Sensitivity- food insecurity- were
significant predictors of households relocating as a coping strategy to floods.
The study buttresses the need to acknowledge the impact of social capital and food security
alongside conventional structural measures in addressing relocation because of floods. There is
also a need to explore gendered perspectives of vulnerability to understand specific modulators of
perception in resource-poor urban communities. These will in turn guide community interventions
more efficiently.
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Thesis (PhD)
Keywords
Household Vulnerability, Adaptation Options, Resource-Poor Communities, Accra, Ghana