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THE IMPACT OF FLOODS ON THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC
LIVELIHOOD OF THE PEOPLE OF KWAPROW.
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
The frequency of natural disasters has been increasing over the years, resulting in loss of
lives, damage to properties and destruction of the environment. The number of people at risk
has been growing each year and the majority are in developing countries with high poverty
levels making them more vulnerable to disasters (Living with Risk, 2006).
Flooding world-wide is accompanied by losses and related human health impacts (Penning-
Rowell et al, 2005). Being the most common type of disaster worldwide, flooding is divided
into three major types which are categorised as the river floods, flash floods and coastal
floods (Smith, 1999)
According to Nott (2006:51), the causes of floods can be broadly divided into physical, such
as climatological forces, and human influences such as vegetation clearing and urban
development. The most common causes of floods are climate related, most notably rainfall.
Prolonged rainfall events are the most common cause of flooding worldwide. These events
are usually associated with several days, weeks or months of continuous rainfall. Human
impacts on river catchments influence flood behaviour. Land use changes in particular have a
direct impact on the magnitude and behaviour of floods. Deforestation results in increased
run-off and often a decrease in channel capacity due to increased sedimentation rates.
Nott (2006) correctly points out that a flood event is not considered to be a natural hazard
unless there is a threat to human life and/or property. The most vulnerable landscapes for
floods are low-lying parts of flood plans, low-lying coasts and deltas, small basins subject to
flash floods. Rivers offer human populations transport links, a water source, recreational

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amenities, fertile plains and are an attractive place for settlements. Floods then become a
major natural hazard because of the high human population densities that inhabit these lands.
He indicated that the direct impacts of a flood are closely related to the depth of inundation of
floods water. The extent of a flood has a direct relationship for the recovery times of
crops, pastures and the social and economic dislocation impact to populations.
Grunfest (1995) argues that due to high poverty levels, people have become more vulnerable
because they live in hazardous areas including flood plains and steep hills. They have fewer
resources which makes them more susceptible to disasters
According to Carter (1991), floods have the following characteristics:
 Long, short and no warning, depending on the type of floods (for example,
flooding within parts of a major river may develop over a number of days or even
weeks, whereas flash floods give no warning)
 Speed or onset may be gradual or sudden; and
 There may be seasonal patterns of flooding.
Major effects arise mainly from inundation and erosion and may include the isolation of
communities or areas and involve the need for large scale evacuation.
The Third World Water Forum: Poverty and Floods held in March, 2003 indicated that in
recent years, floods had become more frequent and of increasing severity resulting into
loss of life, injury, homelessness, damage to infrastructure and environment as well as
impacting on other critical sectors such as education and agriculture.
Ghana has not been spared by floods which have had adverse impacts. Heavy rains
experienced in recent years have resulted into recurrent flash floods and water logging in

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valley and / or low lying areas respectively causing varying impacts on a number of sectors
namely infrastructure, agriculture, education, health, water and sanitation and habitation.
Problem Statement
Kwaprow is faced with a number of environmental challenges and flooding is one of such
challenges. The community is located in a low-lying, flood prone area. Kwaprow has a total
population of 1810 (CCMA Medium Term Development Plan, 2010). The inhabitants are
mostly into crop production, mainly maize and vegetable gardening, some livestock farming
fishing and trading.
Owing to its geographical location, that is, in a low-lying area, the community has a
limited capacity to control the hydrological events ensuing from Kakum river. As a result,
the community experiences floods in every rainy season. The floods cause displacement of
people from their usual dwelling places resulting into varying impacts on infrastructure,
crops, health, education, environment as well as damage to property.
The study therefore endeavours to assess the impact of floods on the socio-economic
livelihoods of the people of Kwaprow.
Research Questions
The study seeks answers to the following questions:
1. What is the impact of floods on the socio-economic livelihoods of people in
Kwaprow community?
2. Who are the most vulnerable groups to floods and what are their coping strategies?
3. What are the sustainable developmental and policy options to deal with the
problem of floods?

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Objective of the Study
The main objective of the study is to assess the impact of floods on the socio-
economic status of livelihoods of people in Kwaprow.
Specifically, the study seeks to:
1. To identify the impact which floods have had on the socio-economic livelihoods of
the people in Kwaprow community.
2. To establish and analyse the underlying causes of vulnerability of the people in
Kwaprow community.
3. To establish vulnerable groups that are most affected by floods including
gender considerations.
4. To identify coping mechanisms employed by the community during floods and
strengthen positive coping strategies.
Hypotheses
1. Flooding has no significant impact on the socio-economic livelihood of the people of
Kwaprow.
2. All people at Kwaprow are vulnerable to flood.
Significance of the Study
The outcome of the study will serve as a source of reference material for academics,
researchers and practitioners of disaster management. It will also contribute to knowledge in
the sense that the final outcome will bring out new ideas, recommendations and solutions
which can be used to solve identifiable problems of flooding.

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Organisation of the Study
The study will be organised into five (5) chapters. The first chapter will be the introductory
chapter. This will consist of the background to the study, the problem statement, objectives of
the study, hypothesis, research questions, significance of the study and organisation of the
study and conceptual framework.
Chapter two will focus on literature review of flooding under the following themes: causes of
flood, socio-economic impact of floods on livelihoods, vulnerability group and coping
strategies.
The third chapter which deals with research methodology will focus on the research
procedures used in the collection of data for the study. It includes the setting of the study, the
study design, the sampling procedure, the data collection techniques, the instruments of data
collection, data processing and analysis and limitations to the data collection.
Chapter four will cater for data analysis and discussion of the results.
Finally, the fifth chapter will cover the summary of findings, conclusions and
recommendation.
Conceptual Framework
The Conceptual Framework identified to guide this study is Disaster Risk Reduction. Disaster
Risk Reduction is the systematic development and application of policies, strategies
and practices to minimize vulnerabilities and disaster risks throughout a society, to avoid
(prevention) or to limit (mitigation and preparedness) the adverse impacts of hazards within
the broad context of sustainable development. As indicated in the introduction, natural
disasters and floods in particular have become frequent and are likely to occur in future due
to climate variability. It may therefore, not be feasible to remove the flood risk .What is

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important therefore is to fully understand the flood risk and the associated effects within the
framework of Disaster Risk Reduction. This can be done by developing the flood hazard and
risk profiles which can be used to design appropriate measures to manage and mitigate the
floods and build people’s adaptation capacity and resilience (Report on the Regional
Stakeholders’ Consultative Workshop on Disaster Risk Management, 2004). Studies
undertaken in the recent past in the country have shown that the frequency and intensity of
disasters have tremendously increased over the last few years, rendering the already
impoverished populations more vulnerable.
Despite the increase in the frequency and magnitude, no comprehensive impact assessment
study on the socio-economic livelihoods of people has been undertaken. Hence the response
to the impact of hazards such as floods has been reactive. There is, therefore, need to
establish a proactive as opposed to reactive risk and vulnerability framework for Disaster
Reduction and Mitigation in the country. This is also in line with the Hyogo Declaration
(ISDR, 2005).
The Study Area
Kwaprow is a community under Abakam, Ola, University electoral area of Cape Coast
metropolis. It is bordered in the South by University of Cape Coast, North by Ankafo and
East by Abura. Kwaprow.
Kwaprow has a total population of 1810 (CCMA Medium Term Development Plan, 2010).
The inhabitants are mostly into crop production, mainly maize and vegetable gardening, some
livestock farming, fishing as well as trading.

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METHODOLOGY
Research design
Research design refers to the plan for carrying out a study (McMillan, 2008). Following the
formation of the research problems and the elaboration of the objectives, there is the need to
outline the various stages and tasks to be executed as part of the study. The research design
will therefore serve as a model for the research work.
For the purpose of this study both qualitative and quantitative approaches will be adopted
especially the survey method. This is because the survey method will allow a group of
respondents to be selected from the larger population through probability sampling. This will
enhance accurate inference about the larger population from a small sample. The survey
method will also enable many respondents to be reached within a short space of time
considering the size of the study area.
Source of Data
The data source for the study will be primary and secondary. The primary source will include
observations, interview and questionnaire administration. The secondary will also include
newspapers, existing books, institutional documents, internet sources and other related
documents.
Target Population
The residents of Kwaprow community are the target population. Adults aged twenty years
and above will be the main target. The adults will include household heads, chiefs,
assemblyman and other opinion leaders. In all, one hundred households will be selected for
the study because of time and cost constrains.

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Sampling Techniques
The Kwaprow community has a total population of 1810 inhabitants. To get the individual
respondents, a multi-stage sampling technique will be used. Given the large size of the study
area, the first stage will involve selecting three major areas affected by the annual floods.
This will then be followed by using random sampling procedure to select households from
each of the three major areas. Thirdly, a maximum of one respondent will be selected from
each household and given a questionnaire to answer or interviewed where necessary using
interview guide. The adoption of the simple random procedure could be based on the fact that
the population is homogeneous in which all members are identical and therefore a sample of
one will be a representative of the population regardless of the size of the population.
The assemblyman, the chief, an environmental officer, heads of Basic Schools and other
opinion leaders will be purposively selected and be interviewed.
Instruments of Data Collection
Structured questionnaires, interview schedule and personal observations will be used to
collect the primary data. The questionnaire will be made up of both close and open-ended
questions which will be self-administered. The questionnaires for the individual households
will be grouped into five sections, namely, general issues, livelihood, socio-economic
impacts, copying strategies and demographic characteristics.
The survey method will be supported with direct observation. The interview schedule will
also be used to seek information from the assemblyman, chiefs and other opinion leaders.
The adoption of the questionnaire, in-depth interview and direct observation will help to
establish reliability and validity of the data to be gathered from the field.

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Data collection Procedure
Given the nature of the survey, it cannot be ruled out completely that people within the
community may be hesitant to welcome the interview team and also freely respond to the
questions especially when some of the questions are very sensitive.
It is therefore necessary to take steps to address these problems. The first will be to seek
official permission from the appropriate stakeholders. The next is to make the respondents
aware of the objectives of the study.
The questionnaire and the interview schedule for the study will also be pre-tested in one of
the selected communities. This will help in the identification of problems to be encountered
and remedies provided.
Methods of Data Processing and Analysis
The field data will first be processed by editing and checking to ensure that everything is
complete. These will then be fed into a computer to get cross tabulation using SPSS and
Microsoft Excel.
Analysis of the output/data will involve describing, summarizing and interpreting the data to
be obtained from each unit. Statistical tools such as the Z-test will be used to determine
whether differences existing between variables are statistically significant. These tests will be
needed to draw meaningful conclusions from the study. The data will be presented using
tables and charts and some inferences will be drawn on the hypothesis to be tested.

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References
A Global Report on Reducing Disaster Risk: A Challenge for Development (2004), United
Nations Development Programme, Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery, New York,
USA.
Adam, T.P. (1983). Technical Report on Southern African Storm Rainfall, Republic of South
Africa, Department of Environment Affairs, Branch of Scientific Services.
Babbie, E. and Mouton, J. (2001). The Practice of Social Research. In Research
Methodology: Practical Research Planning ND Design, 7th Edition, Study Guide for DIM
601.Bloemfontien: University of the Free State.
Borrows, P. and De Bruin, D. (2006). The Management of Riverine Flood Risk. Journal,
Carter, W. Nick. (1991). Disaster Management – Disaster Managers’ Handbook. Manila,
Philippines: Publication of the Asian Development Bank.
CCMA Medium Term Development Plan (2010)
Douben, J. K. (2006). Characteristics of River floods and Flooding: A Global Overview,
1985-2003. Journal, 59:59-521.
Grunfet, E. (1995). Hydro meteorological, impacts and Management of Extreme floods.
(Paper presented at a workshop on long term social and economic impacts of extreme floods
at the University of Colorado in November, 1995). Colorado springs, USA.
Handbook for estimating the socio-economic and environmental effects of Disasters (2003).
United Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

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Living with Risk (2006): A global Review of Disaster Reduction Initiatives, Geneva
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Ninno, D.C., Dorosh, A.P. and Smith, C.L. (2003). Public Policy, Markets and Household
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1998 floods. Journal, 31 (7):1221.
Nott, J. (2006). Extreme Events: A Physical Reconstruction and Risk Assessment.
Cambridge University Press. New York.
Smith, K .and Ward, R. (1998). Floods: Physical processes and Human Impacts. John Wiley
and son. England.
Strydom, H., Fouche C. B. and Delport C.S.L (Third edition), (2005). Research at Grassroots
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World Water Forum: Poverty and Floods (March, 2003). (online)
http://www.adb.org/water/theme/floods.asp. Retrieved: 13 July, 2014.