By Ajiboye Olakunle Johnson
Flood is a predominant natural hazard in Nigeria. In the last 30 years, Nigerian cities have experienced great physical development in terms of building, construction and reconstruction of roads, offices, markets, and stores, manufacturing industries and others without any appreciable infrastructures such as drainages for roads and canals to support them. These have made floods to be a serious challenge that plague many community in Nigeria including some communities in Anambra West Local Government in Anambra State, Nigeria . Hence, this research assessed the socio-economic effects of flooding in some Communities in Anambra West Local Government Area in Anambra State, Nigeria, and the imperative steps to be taken by the government and its host communities to reduce the effects of flood menace for sustainable development. Using an error of 0.05 level, questionnaire survey were utilized in gathering data for the study. Data collected through questionnaires was coded and analyzed with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Simple percentage, frequency distribution tables, chi-square, principal component analysis, linear regression and ANOVA were employed in the analysis of data. The study revealed very high socio-economic effects of flooding and significant pattern in the communities study area. The seven (7) significant critical aspects includes animal production, crop production, fish production, food availability/affordability, employment, health/loss of human resources, infrastructure and household properties. The study also found out that, there is significant relationship between flood incidence (frequency) and socio-economic effects in the communities studied area which implies that, an increase in the incidence (frequency) of flooding has an increasing socio-economic effects on the communities. It further revealed that a significant difference exists in the socio-economic effects of flooding across the communities in the study area. Finally, the study concluded by making recommendations.
Keywords: Flood menace, Community, Sustainable development, Socio-economic activities Floodplains, Drainage system, Environment.