Spatial Relationship between Floods and Poverty: The Case of Region of Dakar

Abstract

Since 2005 in Senegal, progress in reducing poverty has stagnated. Successive exogenous shocks and a slowdown in reforms have, in part, reduced average growth to 3.3%, a rate barely above that of population growth (2.5%). Exogenous shocks include floods, which have become recurrent in the country's major cities, but especially in the capital Dakar, where they remain an omnipresent reality. These floods, with heavy consequences sometimes even disastrous (damage and loss of human life), are one of the main reasons that push and/or keep poor households in a vicious circle of poverty. Indeed, thanks to the geographic information system implemented in this paper, the analysis of the spatial relationship between floods and poverty has made it possible to oppose the multidimensional and dimensional poverty rates of the department of Dakar, the least affected by floods, to those in Pikine, the most affected by the floods. It has also shown that the poorest populations in the region of Dakar are those affected by floods and are mainly located in the departments of Pikine, Guédiawaye and Rufisque. In Pikine, where floods were experienced in 2005, 2009 and 2011, multidimensional poverty rates crossed the 50% line while they are around 30% and 40% for Guédiawaye and Rufisque respectively. Multidimensional poverty rates derive primarily from indicators such as nutrition, level of education, cooking fuel and holding of assets.

Coping with Floods in Pikine, Senegal: An Exploration of Household Impacts and Prevention Efforts

“…Land tenure ensures household security and survival, both now and for future generations. Furthermore, land tenure rights across the Dakar metropolitan region are expensive, and residents reported that land prices in Djida Thiaroye Kao were out of reach for most, despite often being classified as an undesirable place to live [32]. This finding suggests that tenure rights are considered essential to many residents, and that moving without guarantee of tenure is undesirable.…”

“…Not only does Pikine suffer from development and environmental problems that contribute to flooding, it also faces economic and social challenges. In 2005, just as increased rainfalls were causing regular flooding, Senegal's poverty reduction efforts stalled [32]. The floods themselves are one explanation for this decline in economic growth.…”

“…The floods themselves are one explanation for this decline in economic growth. A 2011 survey found that 25% of people in Pikine do not have their nutritional needs met, 78% live in households that are deprived of basic needs such as water, electricity, sanitation, or proper construction, and 33% are considered to live in poverty [32]. Compared to other cities in Senegal, Pikine is ranked last in terms of the number of homes with running water, with toilets connected to the sewer system, and with electricity [33].…”

Urban informal settlements as hotspots of antimicrobial resistance and the need to curb environmental transmission

“…Poor drainage in urban informal settlements also results in higher susceptibility to flooding, which is associated with more acute human exposure risks 63 . These settlements are more likely to be located in low-lying, flood-prone areas than higher income neighborhoods of the same cities [64][65][66] . A recent mapping-based study in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, estimated that 83% of urban informal settlement areas were exposed to floods (for a 1000-year return period) compared to 68% of the city as a whole 65 , not considering the impacts of flood protections such as drainage systems that are unlikely to be equitably distributed between urban informal settlements and wealthier neighborhoods 63 .…”

An Empirical Research on Statistical Measurement of Regional Economic Differences

“…The more representative ones are the big propulsion theory, the low level equilibrium trap theory, the poverty vicious circle theory, the minimum effort proposition theory, etc. [1,2] . Because the theory assumes that the conditions are very demanding, the theoretical model is too idealistic and far from the actual situation.…”