Impact Assessment of Flood Disaster on Livelihoods of Farmers in Selected Farming Communities in Oke Ogun Region of Oyo State

Abstract

Oke-Ogun Area of Oyo State, which is widely known as the food basket of South-Western Nigeria, is a flood prone area exacerbated by climate variability. Therefore, this study was carried out mainly to assess the impact of flood disasters on the livelihoods of farmers in Oke-Ogun Region of Oyo State, Nigeria. The data collected through in-depth interview, structured questionnaires, Focused Group Discussions and portable GPS were subjected to analysis, using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results reveal that farmland’s close proximity to river/stream, limited drainage system, frequent heavy rainfall, limited supports from external bodies during flooding are some of the factors that make the farmers vulnerable to flood disasters. The study also revealed that flooding has huge impact on their farmlands and limited impact on their houses. Furthermore, the study finds that the farmers have very low coping mechanisms as most of them do not have access to insurance facilities and do lack timely and precise flood early warning systems, flood local signs and community flood management committees. The study stresses a significant association between farmers’ vulnerabilities and their livelihoods and recommended that government and relevant agencies should provide adequate drainage system, weather forecast, insurance facilities, and timely and precise flood early warning system to reduce farmers’ vulnerabilities to flood disasters and enhance their livelihoods.