Households Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Variability Induced Water Stress on Downstream Kaduna River Basin

Abstract

Water stress is one of the risks emanating from worsening climatic variations. It poses serious threats on vulnerable continents, people and livelihoods globally. However, little information is available on how the specific climate threat is impacting people's livelihoods and water resources on different temporal and spatial scales in Nigeria basins. This study aimed at investigating household vulnerability and adaptation to water stress induced by climate variability on a downstream Kaduna River basin with the goal of supporting/facilitating climate change adaptation. The research analyzed hydro-climatic data and employed vulnerability-based framework consistent with stakeholders' participatory approach, within the context of current climate conditions experienced, and/or water stress conditions already affecting household livelihoods in six communities at three study sites; Shiroro, Gbako and Lavun, and adaptive strategies engaged to deal with water stress. Findings revealed that households have been exposed and experienced changes in water availability through variations in rainfall, temperature and runoff. Consequently, these changes have impacted on food production and livelihoods. Households have individually and collectively employed adaptation techniques which are reactive, short-term indigenous coping strategies usually adopted during periods of stress to minimize water-related vulnerabilities. The study demonstrated how an understanding of the local household vulnerabilities will enable the recognition of early indicators of water stress in addition to the occurrence of extreme events. Overall, households' vulnerability decreased from one village to another due to differences in sensitivity to stress, access to resources and local institutional capacity. Resilience of households can be increased through early warning system during flood

Climate Change Shocks Sensitivity Index of Smallholder Farmers Engaged in Farming and Non-Farming Activities in Kinakomba Ward, Tana River County, Kenya

“…Yet lack of ability to follow such trainings increases the sensitivity of the smallholder farmer. This is also consistent with Chinwendu et al (2017) who found that inadequate education, access to resources , poor local institutional capacity and services, and gender were a key factors that shaped vulnerability. Mbakahya and Ndiema (2015) argued that factors such as poverty and hunger, poor health, low levels of education, gender inequality, contribute to vulnerability.…”

Assessing the Skill and Reliability of Seasonal Climate Forecasts in Sahelian West Africa

“…Supplemental information related to this paper is available at the Journals Online website: https://doi.org/10.1175/WAF-D-19-0168.s1. (i.e., high sensitivity to initial conditions) precludes skillful weather forecasts for lead times greater than two to three weeks (Buizza and Leutbecher 2015). To provide forecast information about the atmosphere a month or season ahead, methods that capture important boundary conditions (e.g., ocean processes, sea ice) are the key sources of long-term predictability.…”

Investigating the Climate-Induced Livelihood Vulnerability Index in Coastal Areas of Bangladesh

“…In the context of vulnerability assessment, scholars have adopted diverse assessment approaches and applied them at different scales. Upon reviewing the relevant literature, climate change assessments have been categorized in diverse groups, such as the "Livelihood Vulnerability Index" in the context of climate change [19,[22][23][24][25], "Social Vulnerability to Climate Change" [3,26,27], "Climate Vulnerability Index" [20,28,29], and "Household Vulnerability to Climate Change" [21,[30][31][32]. Of the vulnerability indices, the "Livelihood Vulnerability Index" has been most cited, notably considering a wide range of parameters [19,[22][23][24][25].…”

“…However, few scientists [30] have utilized the term "Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF)" in order to measure household vulnerability considering the five assets of the social, human, financial, natural and physical, and livelihood diversification aspects. The vulnerability indices found in the scholarly literature [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] reveal combined and individual scores of various dimensions of vulnerability at different spatial settings, which range from small communities to regions. The findings from the aforementioned vulnerability indices have contributed to developing effective adaptations for communities and regions, but vulnerable households may be left out of the adaptation planning processes.…”