Project Info
Principal Investigator
Stefan Leeffers (Nova SBE)
Partner
Municipality of Quelimane
Funding
International Growth Center (IGC)
About this Project
The Mozambican coast is vulnerable to natural disasters and climate change. Located close to the mouth of the Rio Dos Bons Sinais, the city of Quelimane is highly vulnerable to rising sea levels, cyclones, flooding, storm surge and coastal erosion. The population of Quelimane is growing rapidly due to a continuous influx of rural migrants. This has increased the number of informal settlements in flood-prone parts of the city, which are particularly vulnerable due to their poor socio-economic conditions.
Information dissemination could be a powerful tool to guide, educate and capacitate urban communities in preparation for inevitable shocks affecting their livelihoods. Early warning systems warn citizens about the arrival of storms and provide instructions. However, in the case of the 2019 Cyclones Idai and Kenneth, even with accurate forecasts and warnings, many did not expect a storm of such magnitude. To address this, early warning systems in Mozambique can be strengthened by providing contextualized, actionable warnings. Additionally, it is critical to be aware of how access and use of information is affected by gender and other characteristics (e.g., age and educational status) that may preclude its inclusiveness.
The objective of this project is to understand the role of information for the resilience of urban households to disaster shocks in the context of Quelimane. Quantitative and qualitative data will be collected to obtain a meaningful understanding of the current risk attitudes, exposure and action-taking of households living in poor socio-economic conditions. This data will also be used to identify disaster risk management related information gaps and cover the role of context specific framing.
Contributing to SDGs:
