Household Vulnerability and Adaptation Options in Resource-Poor Communities in Accra, 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.