Do-It-Yourself Flood Risk Adaptation Strategies in the Neighborhoods of Kano City, Nigeria

Abstract

The urban poor in developing countries is hit hardest by climate-related extreme events such as flooding. Also, informal settlements lacking municipal support and immediate public response to flooding incur losses and thus exacerbate their sufferings. Left out or left alone, the vulnerable people from some parts of the ancient city of Kano develop their own efforts to protect themselves against the recurrent flood events. Hence, this chapter examines the nature of community-driven do-it-yourself (DIY) adaptation The data was collected through field-based surveys, interviews, and questionnaires to enable in-depth analysis of the problem from socioecological point of view. The results identified flood drivers to include the nature of surface topography, torrential rainfalls, lapses, and inadequacies in the availability of drainage infrastructure and human behavioral lapses in drainage management. On the other hand, the DIY adaptation manifests in the use of sandbags, de-siltation of drainage, construction of fences, and drainage diversions. It is important to highlight that DIY adaptation is a good strategy; however, municipal authorities must come to the aid of such communities and revisit the absence of urban planning by supporting them through capacity building to find more effective solutions to the challenges of the changing climate and environment.