Household Vulnerability to Climate Change-Related Hazards in the Towns of Tiko and Limbe, Cameroon

ABSTRACT

Climate is continually changing and the future will observe changes in sea level rise, intense storms, increase temperature, heavy precipitation events, heat waves and an extension of drought events, all these as evidence of the changing climate. This has resulted to an increase in the frequency and duration of several hazards including floods, landslides, coastal erosion and strong winds(Tonados) thereby increasing the vulnerability of households to these hazards. Despite the fact that climate change is the main cause of these hazards, human activities such as deforestation, extension of occupation on hillslopes, poor waste disposal and blocked drianage systems has increase the rate of these hazards occurrence and households vulnerability. Vulnerability is measured interms of exposure, sensitivity and adaptation. The main research objective guiding this study was to comparatively assess the level of households vulnerability to climate change-related hazards in the coastal towns of Limbe and Tiko. This was achieved with the help of quantitative statistics which was the main research method used (field obsevation, questionnaires and satallite image interpretation/analysis) and qualitative research method to support the main method (interviews) within the sample site of Kie, Mbonjo, Makuka, Down Beach, Mirama Beach, Ngeme Beach, New town and Limbe camp in Limbe and Mukuru Beach, Mami Likomba Beach, Kuwait Beach, Likomba, Mutengene, Dibanda, New Layout, and Quatter Rubber in Tiko. A chi square test showed that climate change has led to an increase in the frequency of hazard occurrence within the study. On the basis to determine which amongst the two localities is more vulnerable to climate change-related hazards, a non parametric chi square was run against the three main components of vulnerability which are exposure, sensitivity and adaptation. It was found that Limbe is more exposed, more sensitive and has more adaptive measures unlike Tiko with least exposure, sensitivity and adaptation.The combination of all these three main variables determines vulnerability as the locality with the highest value which is Limbe in this case was considered more vulnerable to climate change-related hazards than Tiko with a smaller score. Sustainable resillience to hazards can only be achieved if the households, councils and government priortised resillience as a key components to hazards management through the proposed resillience schemed proposed in this study inorder for us to have an emerging Cameroon come 2035.