ASSESSMENT OF INDIGENOUS COPING STRATEGIES IN FLOOD MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL IN SELECTED COMMUNITIES IN ANAMBRA STATE

The study examined the effectiveness of indigenous coping strategies in flood management and control in selected communities in Anambra State in recent times. Three usually flooded communities namely Umuleri, Umunze Anam and Onitsha were selected for study. The study adopted the survey research design. Sample size of 400 households were randomly selected from the three communities for study. The questionnaire and an interview schedule were used to elicit information from household heads and key community leaders. Respondents for interviews were purposively selected while respondents for questionnaire survey were randomly selected. Tables, percentages, and charts were used in the analysis, while the chi square test was used to test the postulated hypotheses. Findings show that the major cause of flooding in the area was increased rainfall. To contain the floods indigenous coping strategies adopted by the communities include construction of floodways/local drainages, raising the plinths of houses/shops, early planting and harvesting, planting flood resistant crops, sand bagging around houses/shops, manual water bailing system. These measures helped to reduce the damages caused by flooding prior to 2012 but wasn’t sufficient to manage the 2012 flooding due to the magnitude of the flood.