Effectiveness of Flood Adaptation Strategies to Land Use Dynamics in Ngoketunjia Division, North West Region of Cameroon

In unavoidable hazard zones, living organisms are obliged to either adapt, migrate, or become extinct. This study was designed to assess the effectiveness of flood adaptation strategies in Ngoketunjia Division which is an endemic flood prone zone based on FEMA recommended standards. The two-stage random sampling technique was used to administer questionnaires to 384 household heads who were predominantly farmers and occupants of flood prone areas. Each 4th household within the accessible target population was sampled. Questionnaires were the principal instrument of data collection though photographs of some structural adaptation strategies were taken to supplement it. Descriptive statistical techniques embedded in Microsoft Excel were used to analyse survey data. Findings revealed that flood adaptation strategies at the level of settlements are largely ineffective and below FEMA recommended standards. 82.03% of buildings in the zone were not designed by certified engineers, 61.72% were constructed with fragile sundry blocks which does not comply to FEMA recommended flood resistant building materials while 72.66% of building foundations were found to be less than the 0.6 (2 feet) above the highest adjacent grade recommended by FEMA for areas where Base Flood Elevation is yet to be determined. Findings revealed that 72.16% and 23.81% of houses constructed with sun-dry blocks and cement blocks respectively have either collapsed or developed cracks while 64.52% of foundations with heights of less than 0.6m (2 feet) and 17.24% of those with heights between 0.6-0.7m have been submerged at least once. Non-structural adaptation strategies with little or no blue-print for assessment of their effectiveness were found to be moderately effective. The study recommends both structural and non-structural flood resilient strategies in the already fragilized topographic plains of the area.

Keywords: Effectiveness, adaptation strategies, land use, flood, Ngoketunjia.