Livelihood-Sensitive Hydrological Indexing of Nature-Based Flood Adaptation Priorities in Nigerian Land-Use Planning

Abstract

Flood adaptation in land use in Nigeria calls for an intervention order that aligns with the level of flood burden, exposure of livelihood activities, and deterioration in land cover. In this paper, four flood-exposed communities; Odekpe, Umunakwo, Oko, and Okwe have been analyzed using the 198-respondent dataset on livelihood activity, size of farmland, flood shock index, nature-based integration value, and land cover type. About 61.1% of all respondents experienced severe to very severe flood shock, 72.7% of respondents earn their livelihood through farming and fishing, and 63.6% of respondent are exposed to small to medium-size farms. Odekpe had the largest flood shock value of 0.703, followed by Umunakwo (0.665), Oko (0.648), and Okwe (0.574). During 1990-2020, built-up and bare lands increased from 14.93 to 96.59 km² whereas floodplains area increased from 183.07 to 332.73 km². Vegetation and water bodies have declined during this period. The highest priority scores were allocated for ecosystem restoration and protection (27.51), green infrastructure development (25.01), and sustainable agriculture (24.80).