Effects of flood occurrences on people's livelihood within Manafwa sub catchment area in Manafwa District

Abstract

Floods are the most common water related hazards affecting the world with their effects being greater among the poor in the developing countries. For instance, floods lead to water borne diseases, destruction of property and loss of lives. However, little had been documented to ascertain the extent of these impacts in Kaato sub-county, Manafwa sub catchment. This study aimed to address this knowledge gap. Specifically, this study identified the impacts of floods on people’s livelihoods in Manafwa district and analyzed the effectiveness of flood adaptation strategies in Manafwa district. Kaato sub-county was purposively selected and households were used as sampling framework. This study was based on a cross sectional research design where qualitative and quantitative methods were used to collect data. Further, the study was also based on primary and secondary data. The study used various tools of data collection for example questionnaires, direct observation, key informant interviews and photography to collect data. The collected data was coded, processed and later entered into SPSS. This data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, factor and content analysis. Results were displayed in bar graphs, pie charts and tables. For, objective one of identifying the impacts of floods on people’s livelihoods this study found out floods to have adverse implications in Kaato sub county for instance floods caused damage to crops (30%), death to livestock (20%), destruction of roads (14%), polluted water sources (8%), floods intensified diseases such as typhoid and Bilharzia(6%), , increased poverty (8%), displaced people (6%), household hunger (2%) and hindered road construction (2%). Furthermore, the study found out women and children to be highly affected by floods than men. Considering the second objective of analyzing the effectiveness of flood adaptation strategies in Manafwa the study found out the people of Kaato sub-county to have various floods adaptation strategies such as use of flood early warning systems such as radios though uptake of warning messages is low, making canals in lowlands and valleys to connect various places, planting of bamboo, elephant grass and eucalyptus along the banks of river Manafwa and treatment of water to improve its quality. These findings provided a starting point on how to sustainably solve the problem of floods.