**2. Study area and population, data collection and analysis**

#### **2.1 Study area**

*Natural Hazards - Risk, Exposure, Response, and Resilience*

recurrent and severe due to global warming [11].

types and normally trigger other types of droughts [13].

that Cameroon has been nicknamed *Africa in Miniature*.

tremors and landslides which occur on a regular annual pattern.

and 16°10′ east; its area is 475, 412 km2

communities.

of patterns of occurrence, coping mechanisms, characteristic factors that drive household and community modus operandi when such anomalies strike are of great imperativeness for the design and implementation of household and community based strategies to curb the effects of floods and droughts; and build more resilient

Bhavnani and colleagues for instance opine that droughts and floods alone account for up to 80% of the loss of life and 70% of the economic losses in SSA [2]. Frequent floods and droughts conditions have reduced the GDP growth of many African countries [1, 3, 4]; and have as well endangered their development advances [5]. Both water-related phenomena have direct and indirect impacts. Over the last 5 decades, floods and droughts have evolved to become major problems in SSA; causing depletion of assets, environmental degradation, impoverishment, unemployment and forced migrations [2, 5, 6]. Flood has been variously defined but for the purpose of this study we have operationally defined flood as a body of water which rises to overflow land which is normally not submerged [7, 8]. There are mainly five types of floods: river flood, flash flood, inland flood, storm surge, coastal flood [8, 9]. Floods are considered as one of the most frequent global hazards [10]. Floods account for approximately 40% of natural disasters and will possibly become more

Unlike floods, droughts are characterized by a slow development, long duration, affects vast areas, and high severity [12]. Furthermore, droughts are expected to become more severe and frequent. This is expected to lead to more water demand, global climate change, and a limited water supply [13]. Based on the nature of water shortages, droughts can be classified into the following four types: meteorological, hydrological, agricultural, and socioeconomic [14]. Among these types, meteorological droughts occur more frequently and regularly than the other three drought

Floods and droughts are now the most frequent types of major disasters. The impacts of climate change are likely to increase their occurrence as they happen to be the most frequent types of major disasters nowadays especially in SSA. In the era of climate change, the reliability on predictability in rainfall patterns has been reduced significantly [15]. The frequency and severity of weather-related events such as floods and droughts have increased unpredictably and shall continue over

Cameroon is one of the SSA countries most hit by these climatic extreme anomalies. It is a country in Equatorial Africa, located on the Gulf of Guinea in Central Africa. It lies between latitude 1°40′ and 13°05′ north and between longitude 8°30′

Cameroon's geo-physical location, tectonic history and climate makes her one of the most susceptible countries affected by natural hazards in Africa. The regularity and devastation caused by such hazards along the active Cameroon Volcanic Line (CVL) are becoming more frequent and even more disastrous, affecting livelihood assets including human, social, financial, natural, physical capital [10, 16]. The country is becoming more prone to and persistently hit by floods and droughts but also by mud flows, rock fall, lahars, volcanic eruptions, toxic gas emissions, earth

Despite her diversity and abundant natural resources, Cameroon is also a victim of several hazards and disasters which have accompanied global climate change. Average temperatures have risen since 1930 [17] and average rainfall has reduced by

stems from her extremely diversified landscapes, rich natural resources (petroleum, bauxite, timber and many tropical crops), cultural and ethnic diversity and a multiplicity of climatic and geomorphologic zones. It is not surprising therefore

. Cameroon's beauty and relevance in SSA

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time.

Cameroon is characterized by five geo-ecological zones with varied landscapes and climates. These are described as Zone I (Sudano-Sahelian); Zone II (High Guinea Savannah); Zone III (Western Highlands); Zone IV (Humid Forest with monomodal rainfall pattern); and Zone V (Humid Forest with bimodal rainfall pattern) [25] (**Table 1**).

The current study was carried out in two of the 5 geo-ecological zones; the Sudano-Sahelian upland and the Western highlands. The Sudano-Sahelian zone is located between latitude 7 and 13° north thus covering more than 21% of the national territory. It has a rippling relief with plateaus that have varying altitudes between 500 and 1000 m and plains with altitudes ranging from 200 to 300 m. The area is also characterized by mountains and flood valleys. In addition to the


#### **Table 1.**

*Cameroon geo-ecological zones and surface areas.*

geographical position of the zone, it has a distinctively dry climate as compared to the rest of the country with a single and short rainy season of about 4 months reaching its peak in August and a very severe and lengthy dry season of up to 7 months or more as one progresses up north from the Mandara Mountains. The annual mean rainfall ranges from 400 mm in the northern part to 1100 mm in the southern part of the zone with an average temperature of up to 28° [25].

On the other hand, the Western Highlands is located between latitudes 5°40′ and 7° north and between longitudes 9°45′ and 11°10′ east. The zone is characterized by relief of massifs and mountains. It features several dormant volcanoes, including Mt. Oku and Mt. Bamboutos. A cool temperate-like climate, influenced mainly by mountainous terrain and rugged topography also characterizes the region. Average rainfall is about 2400 mm, temperatures averaging between 23 and 32° [19]. There are two main seasons; the rainy season which starts from mid-March and ends in mid-November and dry season from Mid-November to mid-March. The dry season is characterized by the harmattan with dry air. Forests once largely covered the Western Highlands but because of the influence of anthropomorphic activities the forests were progressively cleared for farmland and grazing, and today, only patches remain. Although small, these patches are recognized as globally important sites for conservation.

#### **2.2 Study population**

Study participants were limited to the study areas; were of both sexes (male and female), aged 20 years and above and had been in the area for at least 10 years; and must have witnessed at least one flood and/or drought event. Data were collected from flood victims in 14 communities of the Western Highlands; and 17 droughtonly communities, and 10 floods and droughts affected communities in the Sudano-Sahelian geo-ecological zone.

#### **2.3 Data collection**

Three Social Science instruments were used for data collection to ensure accurate and reliable data in order to attain the study objective. The combined approach was used in collecting the data. Three instruments (individual questionnaires, Focus Group Discussion (FGDs) guides and In-depth interview guides) were employed in collecting both quantitative and qualitative data to investigate the research question.

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and floods.

floods.

**2.6 Data analysis**

generated across tools.

**3. Results and discussions**

**3.1 Socio-economic description of sampled population**

both SPSS and Microsoft Excel 2013.

*Determinants of Coping Strategies to Floods and Droughts in Multiple Geo-Ecological Zones*

**2.5 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and In-depth Interviews (IDIs)**

This was a structured questionnaire used to collect quantitative data from 2024 different floods and droughts household heads or their representatives. It was developed to understand victims' perceptions and to identify the factors that influence their adoption of specific coping strategies in situations of floods and/or droughts. Socio-demographic information was collected as well. Questionnaires were administered to respondents on a face to face basis after obtaining their consent. We had two sets of questionnaires designed for the purpose of this study: one for floods

To generate qualitative data, 31 FGDs and 99 IDIs were conducted in different floods and droughts communities with household members to capture the general opinion and perception of household members on the hazards and disasters, the consequences of such phenomena in their households and the determinants of their preferred coping strategies. We also sort to understand how experience, cultural factors and location within a certain geo-ecological zone could influence the adoption of formal or informal coping strategies. The data collection instruments in this case were also designed separately to distinctively collect data for droughts and

All quantitative data generated from the questionnaires were entered into a template designed in the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 20.0) (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). The data were cleaned and later on analyzed using

For qualitative data (FGDs and IDIs), they were recorded in the field using dictaphones (voice recorder) and later on transcribed and typed into a word processing program (Microsoft Word 2013). The transcribed data were analyzed using Nvivo version 11, and themes were established in relation to research objectives. This was to ensure a standardized analysis and interpretation of the qualitative data

This section presents and discusses the socio-economic characteristics of the sample. The discussions are done by comparing results from the Sudano-Sahelian region with those from the Western Highlands. It is worth mentioning that the distribution of respondents across geo-ecological zones indicates that 60% of the from the Sudano-Sahelian zone while 40% was from the Western Highlands. In addition, the sample comprises of victims of both droughts and flood events (45.2% drought victims, 40.7% flood victims and 14.1% both drought and flood victims). More so, while all the respondents in the Western Highlands were flood victims, in the Sudano-Sahelian region, only 0.7% of the respondents witnessed floods alone. 75.7% of the respondents were drought victims, 23.6% had witnessed both droughts

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84571*

victims and the other for drought victims.

**2.4 Individual questionnaire**

*Determinants of Coping Strategies to Floods and Droughts in Multiple Geo-Ecological Zones DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84571*
