**1. Introduction**

Over the years in Africa, changes in climate worsened by disasters and fragility are becoming increasingly common, particularly in some vulnerable Nigerian weather-impacted communities threatening disprivileged populations. With accompanying periods of extreme wet seasons and their effects on heightening flood events, there have been *climate-related temporary displacements* from excess water coursing through the lands [1]. Climate-related temporary displacement is events impacted the anthropomorphic aspect of climate change, such as loss of shelter, movement of people, and breakdown of livelihoods of rural and urban communities with added risks and vulnerabilities, besides other socio-economic factors that are affected [2]. Due to the need to continue to protect community biological diversity, health, and natural resources [3], the community members resort to community-based climate risk management options, such as climaterelated temporary displacement. This temporary displacement involves going back to the affected community after flooding events to manage and reduce impacts of climate change and local pressures [4]. As defined by [4], *community-based adaptation* is a local mitigating risk management strategy that involves the process of migrating back to their community periodically after an environmental stressor, such as flooding. Community-based adaptation (CBA), a process led by the community, is aimed to meet and prioritize the needs of communities, leveraging on their built capacities and the knowledge they hold, and empowering members with the required information and activities for favorable climate change outcomes.

Community-based approach (CBA) utilizes a solution-oriented lens to confront challenging complex issues associated with human displacement, internal dislocation, and relocation, as well as addressing the present climate-fueled flood reoccurrence events in affected communities. With its beneficial approach, CBA has been shown to increase and respond to comprehensive climate change threat(s) and its impacts on disprivileged populations [5]. Notably, CBA exhibits a partnering relational procedure between groups, such as community and institutional stakeholders, and not activities that were decided on, and imposed on the locals [6]. This procedure can build, strengthen, and bridge on existing adaptive capacities, relational values, and skills, while holding on prevailing local knowledge and technologies to encourage the communities on their community-led goals [7, 8].

For our study area: Anambra State is made of 21 Local Government Areas (LGA), and Ogbaru LGA is one of them, with Akili Ogidi as one of its main towns in this LGA. Ogbaru LGA is in the Southwest of Anambra State in Nigeria (see **Figures 1** and **2**). And with a population of about 221,879 [9], Ogbaru LGA occupies an area of 388 km2 and density of about 762.3/km<sup>2</sup> [10] (see **Figure 2**). To the North, Akili Ogidi is bounded by Onitsha South Local Government Area, on the South by Rivers state and Imo state, while on the Western side, it is bounded by Delta state and on the East by Idemili South, Ekwusigo and Ihiala Local Government Areas. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogbaru?msclkid=737721afcf3911ec90c 5d2cabc0b2eb2).

Lying on the latitudes 5°42<sup>0</sup> N to 6°10<sup>0</sup> N and longitudes 6°41<sup>0</sup> E to 6°50<sup>0</sup> E, respectively, Akili Ogidi is noted for its agricultural activities [11]. The flood/alluvial plains of the Niger River are shown to form the major parts of our study site (see **Figures 2** and **3**). The vegetation is characterized by modified green areas and grasslands in remote areas [12]. With an elevation of 25 m above sea level, the area is dominated by shallow aquifers, while the climate is tropically characterized by high precipitation averaging between about 1800 and 2300 mm [13]. For the relative humidity in our study area, which is within an average of about 60–70% in July, the average daily annual temperature of this area is in the range of 24–28°C with a

*Climate-Driven Temporary Displacement of Women and Children in Anambra State, Nigeria… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.104817*

**Figure 1.** *Map of Nigeria showing Anambra State.Source: Department of Environment Management, COOU (2021).*

#### **Figure 2.**

*Maps showing Southeast States, Anambra State and Ogbaru Local Government Area and Akili Ogidi—study area surrounded by River Niger.Source: Department of Environment Management, COOU (2021).*

**Figure 3.** *Satellite image showing Akili Ogidi.Source: Google Map (2021).*

night temperature of 16–18°C [14]. Averagely from March to October, there are wet climatic conditions with dry seasonal conditions from November to February [15]. The longer wet seasons are prevalent with intense storms that cause floods displacing the residents during the entire wet season.

For coastal cities in Nigeria, they are continually being displaced, dislocated, and relocated temporarily due to continual events of floods resulting in large population of temporary migrants, further threatening the life of the communities and individuals. In 2018, over 1.9 million persons were internally displaced by the floods across 12 States in Nigeria and over 500,000 were homeless. Unfortunately, marginalized groups, such as rural women and children majorly, have been hard hit leading to their reduction in income levels, pressure on food security, health, poor nutrition worsening health status of children, besides other impacts on the environment.

Though rural communities of these regions located around the river banks are usually the worse hit by these flood events, most Nigerian coastal cities and communities in Nigeria particularly Southeast region have experienced continual sealevel rise, from increasing rainfall. In Nigeria, all the communities within the bank of River Niger and Benue, in Anambra, Kogi, Edo, Delta, Nassarawa, Taraba, and Adamawa states, continue to be flooded almost like an annual event. These states are located along the two main Nigerian rivers: the Niger and Benue rivers. These flooding events further implicate the rising water levels of these two rivers as the primary causes behind the flooding experienced in Nigeria. Further, the ecosystemdependent livelihoods, such as rainfed agriculture, are breaking down due to the changing temperatures and associated erratic high-volume patterns of rains

#### *Climate-Driven Temporary Displacement of Women and Children in Anambra State, Nigeria… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.104817*

impacting agricultural procedures [16, 17]. Of note, these floods threaten agricultural production levels and food security [18] aggravated by increased inter-annual variability of precipitation, which may heighten temporary displacement out of the lower rural land production areas to the urban regions.

The 2063 agenda for the African Union's (AU) agenda is a call to strengthen humanitarian activities and to transform the continent within 10 years. IPCC Fourth Assessment Report [19] in its summary of climate change projections and impacts for Africa reported that Africa is a vulnerable continent. Africa's vulnerability to climate change may be hinged on the wicked problems, such as extreme poverty, unregulated emissions from fossil fuel combustion, poor physical planning, governance failures, corruption, violence extremism, inequalities, food insecurity, unemployment [20], and uncontrolled population rise with an imbalanced demographics that characterize the continent. These multiple intractable problems are worsened by lifestyles, such as indiscriminate waste disposal, uncensored felling of trees, and deforestation that aggravate anthropogenic emissions leading to extensive influence on population and natural ecosystems.

Globally, World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that in the next 30 years (by the year 2030 and 2050), climate variability may result to increasing environmental disaster-related annual deaths (about 250,000 additional deaths). In these contexts, declaring 2019 as the "Year of Refugees, Returnees and IDPs" by AU is aimed to promote lasting solutions, particularly to forced displacement witnessed in Africa. Of note, the launching of the African Climate Mobility Initiative (ACMI) will continue to assist the works of the African Union member states in addressing the complex issues of climate-related forced internal and external migration and leverage on possibilities that come with the African climate-induced migration. Notably, climate changes will escalate diverse impacts, such as rising sea level and extreme weather in the West African region, particularly Nigeria [21] in addition to the worsening socioeconomic milieu. However, in recent times, modern sophisticated modeling technologies coupled with improved research studies have provided atmospheric scientists the ability to determine and comprehend the causes of the majority of weather events, particularly the events influenced and heightened by climate change.

In light of the aforesaid discourse, the goal of our chapter is to investigate the causes and consequences of climate-driven floods and temporary displacement prevalent among community members, particularly women and children in Ogbaru LGA, Anambra State. This study provides information needs shared by affected community to reduce the risks of climate variability by involving them in planning of adaptational practices, activities, and planning.
