The Road to Recovery: The Role of Poverty in the Exposure, Vulnerability and Resilience to Floods in Accra

Abstract

The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.

Socioeconomic Resilience in Sri Lanka: Natural Disaster Poverty and Wellbeing Impact Assessment

“…If poor people are found to be systematically more likely to be flooded, it is possible to introduce a "poverty bias" in the form of a higher probability of being affected for households with lower income. We do not have strong evidence that it is the case in Sri Lanka, and reviews suggest that such a bias is far from universal (see a review in [8], [13]).…”

“…The data recorded in the survey are assumed to capture the household's permanent income, which is smoothed over fluctuations in income and occasional or one-off expenditures. 13 It is important to note that the value of housing services provided by owner-occupied dwellings is included in the income data, so that the loss of a house has an impact on income (even though it would not affect actual monetary income). 14 This is a serious limit in a country where international remittances have reached more than 8 percent of the gross national income in 2017, and where remittances have been shown to support post-disaster recovery [11,12].…”

Measuring Natural Risks in the Philippines: Socioeconomic Resilience and Wellbeing Losses

“…If poor people are found to be systematically more likely to be flooded, it is possible to introduce a "poverty bias" in the form of a higher probability of being affected for household with lower income. We do not have strong evidence that it is the case in the Philippines, and reviews suggest that such a bias is far from universal (see a review in [29], [31]).…”

Beyond the plan: How land use control practices influence flood risk in Sekondi-Takoradi

“…The world is witnessing recurring episodes of flood hazards with succeeding events more severe than the previous (Douglas et al 2008). Notwithstanding, it is anticipated that climate change will increase the proportion of annual precipitation classified as heavy floods (Collins et al 2013; Erman et al 2018; Kirtman et al 2013; Wisner et al 2015). This endangers the lives of the vulnerable who live in flood-prone urban areas (Oliver-Smith et al 2016; Wisner et al 2015).…”

“…In Ghana, flooding is the most destructive natural hazard (Erman et al 2018). The literature suggests that the International Disaster Database (EM-DAT) has recorded 3.9 million people directly affected by flooding in Ghana.…”