Drought-flood coexistence: Risk perception and adaptation of urban and rural households in Southwest Madagascar

The Drought-Flood Coexistence (DFC) is a major issue in disaster risk reduction (DRR), especially for poor and vulnerable people. This study assesses the perception of flood and drought risks, and the adaptation strategies of urban and rural households exposed to these two risks in Southwest Madagascar. Data were collected from 265 households using a survey questionnaire, and from five local authorities through semi-structured interviews. We combined the calculation of a composite indicator of risk perception with the use of Wilcoxon rank tests to compare perceptions between drought and flood as well as between different groups of households related to their risk experience. We also used logistic regression to assess the willingness to implement adaptation strategies for future flood and drought events. Our study shows that households had a higher perception of flood risk than that of drought risk, particularly in urban areas. Households adversely affected by both types of hazards have a higher perception of drought risk than other households. About two out of three households (rural and urban combined) believe that DFC increases the felt impacts. However, many rural households do not consider this DFC as an additional challenge to adaptation, unlike most urban households who think that this DFC makes it difficult to implement adaptation strategies. At local level, authorities and households adapt to risks in different ways, particularly in rural areas. As the population takes many different structural measures (some of which are similar for both risks), we find that some flood/drought measures affect the risk of the opposite hazard and that there are some forms of maladapation. Finally, our results highlight that having experienced negative impacts from both types of hazards increases the likelihood of taking adaptation measures to protect against future events. We conclude that DFC is a challenge in the daily life of households at the local level and that it is necessary to consider both risks together when implementing an integrated DRR system.