Information for adaptation and response to flooding, multi-stakeholder perspectives in Nigeria

Abstract

Provision of data and information for disaster risk reduction is increasingly important to enable resilience. However the focus of provision in many African countries is limited to national scale risk assessment and meteorological data. The research aimed to consider the perspectives on availability and access to information of different local urban actors that require reliable and specific information to take informed decisions. The research used workshop discussion and questionnaires to collect views from stakeholders in flood risk management in Nigerian cities about their current access to information and their requirements. The results confirmed that stakeholders and communities agree in recognising the importance of climate information. Findings identified issues surrounding communication between agencies, government and technical experts. The role of the media and business in filling the vacuum left by state provision of information was further highlighted demonstrating the potential for Private Public Partnerships in supporting adaptation and response to flooding. However significant differences in access between sub-groups were also revealed such that some marginalised groups may be excluded from information. It follows that climate services, data and information provision need to be collaboratively designed in order to be more inclusive, to meet user requirements and to build community capacity.