ABSTRACT
This study assessed the effects of flooding on livelihood of rural households in Ogbaru local government area, Anambra State, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to; describe the socioeconomic characteristics of rural households, identify the livelihood activities of the rural household, identify the causes of flooding, assess the effects of flooding on the livelihood activities of rural households and assess the coping strategies to flooding in the study area. A two- stage sampling was used to select 89 respondents for the study. Primary data was obtained through administration of questionnaire and interview schedule. Data obtained was subjected to both inferential and descriptive statistics. The descriptive statistics which had frequency counts, percentages mean and rating scales made use of the Logit regression model, while in the inferential statistics the Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC)was used. Results from the descriptive statistics showed that more than half (56.1%) of the head of rural households were females (46.1%) of rural households’ head were married. The mean age, mean household size and mean average monthly income were 41 years, 4 persons and N24,385 respectively. The average farming experience and farm size were found to be 13 years and 0.30 hectares respectively. Livestock production was the primary livelihood activity(43.8%) followed by crop production (31.50%). More than half (55.10%) were not members of a cooperative or social group. Crop production (21.3%) and fishing (10.1%) were the major secondary agricultural livelihood activities whereas trading (68.5%) and tailoring (36.0%) were the secondary non-agricultural livelihood strategies. Causes of flooding with the highest mean were lack and or poor maintenance of drainage channel (x̄= 4.618), heavy rainfall (x̄= 4.426) and poor environmental planning (x̄=4.326). In addition, spread of diseases to crop, fishes or livestock (x̄= 9.630), environmental pollution (x̄= 9.652), unemployment (x̄=9.371), destruction of schools, churches and government buildings (x̄= 8.730) and disruption of social relationships (x̄= 9.034) were revealed as the x leading negative effects of flooding in the study area on agricultural, health, economic, physical and social assets respectively. It was also observed that respondents made use of their savings (x̄=2.640), prayers (x̄= 2.573), use of sandbag on road for better access (x̄= 2.449), receive food aid (x̄= 2.348) as the main coping strategies employed to flooding in the study area. The results of the Chi-square revealed that the selected socio economic variables have no significant relationship with the effect of flooding on the livelihood of rural households in Ogbaru LGA of Anambra State. In conclusion, the study revealed that respondents felt a high effect of flooding. Government of the State and the Local Government Authority should strengthen community support networks to facilitate the sharing of resources, knowledge and assistance among affected households.
