Assessment of Smallholder Farmers’ Responses to Flood Incidence in the Oti River Sub-Basin
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54536/ajec.v4i1.3874Keywords:
Floods, Oti River Sub-Basin, Response Strategies, Smallholder FarmersAbstract
This study aimed to assess the responses of smallholder farmers to incidence of floods in the Oti river sub-basin. The findings provide useful information for enhancing the adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers to respond to flood hazards and improve their resilience and disaster preparedness in the study area. This study used the simple random sampling procedure to select 399 farmers and descriptive statistics was used to identify and examine response strategies adopted by smallholder farmers. The results of the study showed that livelihood of smallholder farmers were greatly impacted by factors such as: Distance to River, Elevation of Communities below the River, Increase in Rainfall, Lack of Early Warning Systems and Lack of Emergency Response Systems. The results further showed that the farmers responded to flood incidence through: Building of Raised Beds, Crop Diversification, Livestock Relocation, the use of Conservation farming practices.The majority (87%) of the farmers stated that they were vulnerable to the impacts of floods in the study area. The findings of this study enhanced understanding on access to relevant and timely information such as an early warning to farmers during the start of the farming/ rainy season to support their adaptive responses to floods.
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