An assessment of riparian communities' preparedness to flood risk: the case of Mbire communities in Zimbabwe

Flood preparedness involves building capacities of communities for effective disaster response and recovery. Communities that effectively prepare for disasters can save life and minimise injuries, property damage and any psychological pain/stress associated with hazards. In view of this, the present study assessed the preparedness of riparian communities living in Mbire district, Zimbabwe and identified their capacity building needs. It used a weighted 5-point Likert Scale to quantify 11 preparedness indicators: resource availability; emergency and evacuation plans; early warning systems; flood knowledge/awareness/education, and proofing information; post-flood recovery; risk communication and social capital. Using a mixed approach, data came from a questionnaire survey involving 304 respondents who were selected through cluster sampling, and five focus group discussions that were purposively selected among the riparian communities. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse quantitative data and determine the level of community preparedness on each variable and indicator. A factor analysis was also conducted to identify the underlying factors that either hindered or promoted flood preparedness. Results show that riparian communities are unprepared for flood disasters. They need capacity building in terms of resource mobilisation, evacuation plans, early warnings, flood education/training/awareness, flood proofing information, post flood recovery and risk communication. A huge majority of about 82% of the indicators showed incipient levels of development. Likewise, about 71% of the variables were at or below incipient level of development. Poverty, flood awareness, social capital and contigency planning emerged as the major drivers of flood preparedness. The study concludes that measuring flood preparedness of riparian communities require context-specific variables. These findings are useful to national and sub-national governments with the mandate to formulate and implement appropriate flood disaster policies and plans where floods are a problem.