To live or to die: cultural and social factors influencing flood preparedness in Nigerian cities

ABSTRACT

There is an array of studies documenting community preparedness to flooding in towns and cities, particularly those in countries of the developing global south. However, fewer studies have investigated how cultural and social factors influence flood preparedness. In this article, we discuss the role of cultural and social attributes and how these can influence a community’s preparedness to extreme flood events, with a focus on selected urban communities in Nigeria. Study revealed that despite, the effects of floods on the urban poor residents, they are actively involved and engaged in finding ways to build their adaptive capacity and resilience against flood events by deploying different strategies inspired through cultural and social attributes.

KEYWORDS:

• Culture
• flood preparedness
• risk perception
• social norms
• Nigeria

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Olasunkanmi Habeeb Okunola

Olasunkanmi Habeeb Okunola is a Visiting Scientist to the VARMAP section of the Institute for Environment and Human Security, United Nations University (UNU-EHS), Germany and Global Change Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. Dr. Okunola’s research focuses on how individuals, communities, and cities respond to global climate change and their different capacities for adaptation and transformation. He has won various prestigious scholarships and awards such as Alexandra Von Humboldt and DAAD ClimapAfrica postdoctoral fellowship. He has received various travel grants to Ghana, South Africa, France, Saudi Arabia, Turkey. Germany and England.

Mulala Danny Simatele

Mulala Danny Simatele is a professor and adjunct Professor in environmental management and sustainability at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and Rusangu University in Zambia. He is also the Chief Consultant and Technical Advisor at Palme Africaine Consulting Group, an organization whose head office is in the Democratic of the Congo. Prof Simatele’s research revolves around themes including; climate change adaptation, collaborative natural resource management, water-energy and climate change nexus, water-food and climate change nexus; solid waste management, water resource management, environmental monitoring and assessment as well as environmental sustainability.

Oluwole Daramola

Oluwole Daramola is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria where he has been teaching and researching for more than a decade. His research mostly focus on urban environmental management with particular reference to community participation (a bottom-up approach). He was a visiting scholar to Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy and a Fellow of the Utrecht Summer School, University of Utrecht, Netherlands. Dr Daramola is a seasoned scholar with more than 40 publications in reputable local and international outlets. He has successfully co-supervised three PhD thesis and 15 MSc thesis in Urban and Regional Planning.