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Contextualizing vulnerability assessment: a support to geo-risk management in central Africa

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Abstract

In central Africa, a combination of several types of major geo-hazards threatens the highly populated area centred on the Lake Kivu Basin and the Virunga Volcanic Province. Contributing to Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) policies not only go through hazards mechanisms analysis, but also through vulnerability assessment. This paper stresses the methodological choices made to target vulnerability assessment in a context of scarce and unreliable data. We discuss here the various stages we have overcome and the analyses conducted at the local scale, i.e. on targeted urban sites. The cities of Bukavu and Goma (Republic Democratic of Congo) count about 800,000 inhabitants each, and catastrophic events are frequently recorded. As a result of our analysis, grounding vulnerability assessment exclusively on a general definition seems not appropriate. Relevant peculiarities of the studied area should also be taken into account in vulnerability and risk assessment. Our research contributes to increase the relevance of DRR policies for risk-exposed populations. Following, one of our main concerns will be to challenge stakeholders who have to face numerous other issues on a daily basis, such as security, land issue or resources.

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Notes

  1. D'Ercole and Metzger (2005, 2009) have identified the following parameters of vulnerability: intrinsic vulnerability (i.e. own weakness such as the socio-economic level of a household, the oldness of a building, the materials of a pipe, etc.), the exposure of the element to hazards and its susceptibility to damage, the dependency of the element (e.g. dependence of the water supply pumping stations towards the electrical network), the capacity of control of the element (e.g. communications systems, remote control, qualified personnel), the functioning alternatives and the level of preparation for crisis management (e.g. contingency plan, emergency communication systems). Some of these parameters have also been identified and included in our analysis. Corresponding data regarding our urban studied sites have been collected through semi-structured interviews with key informants and a household survey.

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Acknowledgments

Special acknowledgments to Théodore Trefon and Benoît Smets from the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) for their critical comments. Thanks also to all the local contributors (scientists and representatives of local institutions and NGOs), as well as to the experts who participated in the Delphi survey. The current research is performed in the framework of GeoRisCA project (Geo-risk in Central Africa) funded by the Belgian Federal Science Policy (Research programme Science for a Sustainable Development, project SD/RI/02A).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Hazards Service, Earth Sciences Department, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Leuvensesteenweg 13, 3080, Tervuren, Belgium

    Caroline Michellier & Francois Kervyn

  2. ANAGEO/IGEAT, Université Libre de Bruxelles, CP130/03 Av. F.D. Roosevelt, 50, 1050, Brussels, Belgium

    Caroline Michellier & Eleonore Wolff

  3. Laboratoire EDYTEM (Environnements, Dynamiques et Territoires de la Montagne), Université de Savoie, Bâtiment « Pôle Montagne », Campus scientifique, 73376, Le Bourget du Lac Cedex, France

    Patrick Pigeon

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  1. Caroline Michellier
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Correspondence to Caroline Michellier.

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Michellier, C., Pigeon, P., Kervyn, F. et al. Contextualizing vulnerability assessment: a support to geo-risk management in central Africa. Nat Hazards 82 (Suppl 1), 27–42 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-016-2295-z

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