**1. Introduction**

Drought and flood-related disasters have been more devastating than other natural hazards (volcanoes, earthquakes, landslides, etc.), as far as deaths, sufferings and economical and cultural destructions are concerned. Apart from destructive direct effects, flood and drought events have been followed by secondary, indirect tragedies, such as famine, epidemics, fire, destruction of social networks, etc. [1]. Despite the progress in science and technology, man has remained very susceptible to extreme drought and flood events. Their escalation is facilitated by the continuous development of costly but inappropriate infrastructures, increase in population density, and a rather decrease in the buffering capacities (deforestation, urbanization, drainage wetlands, etc.). Understanding the way people in such areas, especially in SSA perceive these hazards, their experiences and interpretations

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 communities.

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 recurrent and severe due to global warming [11].

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

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 time.

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′ and 16°10′ east; its area is 475, 412 km2 . Cameroon's beauty and relevance in SSA 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 that Cameroon has been nicknamed *Africa in Miniature*.

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 tremors and landslides which occur on a regular annual pattern.

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

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

more than 2% per decade since 1960 [17]. Projected changes in rainfall range from −12 to +20 mm per month (−8 to +17%) by the 2090s [18]. Furthermore, average annual temperatures are predicted to increase between 1.5° and 4.5° by 2100, with a 1.6° to 3.3° rise in coastal zones; and a 2.1° to 4.5° rise in the Sudano-Sahelian region [17]. Average rainfall is predicted to continue to decrease, leading to a prolonged dry season in the Sudano-Sahelian ecological zone. Desert conditions are expected to dominate this area by 2100. It is predicted that Lake Chad will be nearly com-

IPCC has established that a 2° rise globally will result in a sea-level rise of between 69 cm and 1 m across the world [20]. Cameroon, given its location along the coast is also expected to experience the impacts of sea level rise over the next century. The above-mentioned statistics indicate that Cameroon is highly vulnerable to floods and droughts. Tiefenbacher et al. [21] have argued that such vulnerability presents a serious threat to the development of the leisure sector and in this case would pose serious problems in attaining sustainable development and generates new challenges for achieving the SDGs; and jeopardizes progress already made. The analysis of climate variability impacts in Cameroon indicates consequences in almost all sectors of development, with huge negative impacts on livelihoods

Burgeoning floods and droughts are expected to inflict adverse effects on many Cameroonian households, given their heavy reliance on agriculture for livelihoods dependence of most households on agriculture [23]. Current agricultural contribution to the country's GDP could drop by 14% points from 20% now to an estimated 6% in 2025 [16, 22, 24]. This drop will resolve mainly from increased desertification (drought) in the north and higher incidence of flooding in the south and in the

A fundamental step towards reducing the effects of floods and droughts in Cameroon lies in identifying risk management strategies whose validity supersedes specific geo-ecological zones [16, 24]. In this paper we therefore undertake the agency to understand the array of household determinants of coping with the threats of floods and droughts, the shapers of the peoples' perceptions, interpretations and experiences to these risks within their daily lives and how all of these tend to shape the way they respond to the threats presented by floods and droughts in their households across the western highlands and the Sudano-Sahelian geo-ecological and socio-cultural areas of Cameroon with the intention to identify drivers that

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

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

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

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

pletely dried up by 2060 [19].

especially at household level [19, 22].

north of the country.

are robust over space and time.

**2.1 Study area**

pattern) [25] (**Table 1**).

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

more than 2% per decade since 1960 [17]. Projected changes in rainfall range from −12 to +20 mm per month (−8 to +17%) by the 2090s [18]. Furthermore, average annual temperatures are predicted to increase between 1.5° and 4.5° by 2100, with a 1.6° to 3.3° rise in coastal zones; and a 2.1° to 4.5° rise in the Sudano-Sahelian region [17]. Average rainfall is predicted to continue to decrease, leading to a prolonged dry season in the Sudano-Sahelian ecological zone. Desert conditions are expected to dominate this area by 2100. It is predicted that Lake Chad will be nearly completely dried up by 2060 [19].

IPCC has established that a 2° rise globally will result in a sea-level rise of between 69 cm and 1 m across the world [20]. Cameroon, given its location along the coast is also expected to experience the impacts of sea level rise over the next century. The above-mentioned statistics indicate that Cameroon is highly vulnerable to floods and droughts. Tiefenbacher et al. [21] have argued that such vulnerability presents a serious threat to the development of the leisure sector and in this case would pose serious problems in attaining sustainable development and generates new challenges for achieving the SDGs; and jeopardizes progress already made. The analysis of climate variability impacts in Cameroon indicates consequences in almost all sectors of development, with huge negative impacts on livelihoods especially at household level [19, 22].

Burgeoning floods and droughts are expected to inflict adverse effects on many Cameroonian households, given their heavy reliance on agriculture for livelihoods dependence of most households on agriculture [23]. Current agricultural contribution to the country's GDP could drop by 14% points from 20% now to an estimated 6% in 2025 [16, 22, 24]. This drop will resolve mainly from increased desertification (drought) in the north and higher incidence of flooding in the south and in the north of the country.

A fundamental step towards reducing the effects of floods and droughts in Cameroon lies in identifying risk management strategies whose validity supersedes specific geo-ecological zones [16, 24]. In this paper we therefore undertake the agency to understand the array of household determinants of coping with the threats of floods and droughts, the shapers of the peoples' perceptions, interpretations and experiences to these risks within their daily lives and how all of these tend to shape the way they respond to the threats presented by floods and droughts in their households across the western highlands and the Sudano-Sahelian geo-ecological and socio-cultural areas of Cameroon with the intention to identify drivers that are robust over space and time.
