Demarcating livelihood vulnerability and flood risk perceptions of villages in the Nadi River basin, Fiji : A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Applied Science

Abstract

Floods continue to be a serious global concern because of their destructive nature, causing millions of dollars in damages and disruption to people’s livelihoods. Despite the growing literature on flood management and vulnerability of urban areas, there is paucity on how rural communities are coping with flood impacts, especially on small island developing states. Research has shown that rural communities tend to be the most impacted during flood events and these events directly impact many of their livelihoods. This study combines the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework and Flood Hazard analysis to investigate the vulnerability of households in three villages situated in the flood-prone Nadi River basin in Fiji. Data collection involved the use of questionnaires distributed to each household in the three villages and focus group (male and female) discussions with participants from each village. The household surveys provided data on the livelihood assets and flood risks, whereas the group discussions investigated asset priority for flood resilience, and flood impacts and coping strategies at a village level. Analysis of the 208 survey responses demonstrated that households have variable access to livelihood assets and enabled mapping and spatial analysis of livelihood asset vulnerability and resilience. Key findings from the research indicate that the villages are well endowed with natural and social capital but seemingly weak in financial and human capital and show gendered differences in attitudes toward assets that might strengthen flood resilience and the degree of flood impacts on their households and villages. A novel contribution in the study was the development of a livelihood capital scoring technique that enabled the five livelihood assets of each household to be compared quantitatively. Anticipated spatial variations were not present and lead to reflections on some of the assumptions underlying commonly used vulnerability assessment tools and assumptions regarding hazard risk and vulnerability assessment. The data provides a useful baseline for targetting and assessing the effectiveness of future resilience strengthening actions. While the study highlights the unequal distribution of livelihood capitals and the contrasting views between men and women, more in-depth research into gendered livelihood roles and associated perceptions of ways to strengthen resilience is needed.