Globally landslides occurrence is reportedly frequent particularly in the mountainous regions causing both direct and indirect effects to various sectors including the road transport. Existing literature reveals limited assessment of road vulnerability to landslides in the mountain regions in Africa. The objective of this study was to investigate the risk to different segments of the road network in the Mt Elgon region. A Fuzzy logic model was used to assess and map the landslide susceptibility of the study area. A total of 478 landslide sites were used in the model development. Ten conditional factors were applied for generating the dataset for training and validation of the model. The results reveal that mid to high altitude steep and rugged areas are more susceptible to landslides. The model performance was good as revealed by high Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 83% and thus can be relied upon in landslide susceptibility mapping. The hotspot segments, which are high risk sections of the road network need to be prioritized for monitoring so as to initiate and strength existing risk mitigation strategies.
Climate change affects both men and women which, in turn, shapes their varied and contrasting perceptions of climate variability and change. This paper examined the gendered perceptions of climate variability and change among local communities in Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda.The objectives are threefold: - identify climatic shocks faced by the local communities; examine the perceptions of men and women of climate variability and change; and to compare their perceptions with empirical meteorological data. This study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods, with data collected from 215 respondents using survey, interviews and focused group discussions. From the findings, indicators of climate variability and change included reduced flooding events, occurrence of human diseases, increasing crop pests and diseases, dry spells and intensity of rains. There was increasing significant temperatures while rainfall was declining. Both male and female significantly associated with increasing temperatures and reduced flooding events. While climatic shocks affected both males and females, the impact was more pronounced depending on distinct livelihood activities and roles and responsibilities undertaken. The study concluded that people’s perceptions of climate change should be taken on by the government and integrated in the national climate programs that support people’s livelihoods and survival mechanisms.
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