Floods are the most common environmental hazards in Kogi State, Nigeria. The state also has the highest number of people affected by floods in the country. Over 70% of inhabitants of Kogi State are engaged in small scale crop production or artisanal fishing. Flood risk results in the displacement of populations and disruption of economic activities and livelihood, rendering affected populations vulnerable to multiple socioeconomic and environmental challenges.Vulnerability is described by exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. Flooding events are known to affect males and females differently. However, gender analysis of vulnerability to flood risk and its cost implications in Nigeria is lacking. Policy responses aimed at strengthening flood risk adaptation capacity of local communities paid little attention to the gendered nature of flood risk. More importantly, while there has been some awareness about the Sustainable develoment goals (SDGs), particularly gender-related SDGs, and their linkages with flood risk, only anecdotal evidence exists regarding gender issues in flood risk. Empirical work on gender and flood risk that could inform and support adaptation policy and action is unfortunately non-existent in Nigeria. This study will provide empirical evidence on gender vulnerability to flood risk in the light of the SDGs. This study focusing on gender analysis of vulnerability to flood risk is unprecedented in Nigeria and would be pivotal to driving the achievement Nigeria’s development aspirations given the global call for integration of gender concerns into development programmes. The study proposes to carry out a gender-responsive vulnerability analysis of flood risk in Kogi State in order to inform gender-equitable flood adaptation and response policies. A reconnaissance study was undertaken in Kogi State in July 2019 to interact with stakeholders, assess the current flood risk vulnerability situation, and establish a prima facie case for the conduct of this study. Seven (7) Key informant interviews (KIIs) were conducted with stakeholders [4 women and 3 men]. Following the reconnaissance survey and KIIs, 7 flood-impacted LGAs [out of 21 overall] have been identified where full-scale field work will be undertaken (i.e 1/3 of the LGAs). A research design based on a mixed methods approach will be adopted in the study. Given that the World Bank Panel Data on General Household Survey (GHS) lacked data points for Kogi State in the 2011-2012, 2013-2014, 2015-2016 waves, primary data for the study will be collected first-hand through focus group discussions (FGDs), key informant interviews (KIIs), in-depth interviews (IDIs) and household questionaire survey. In each of the LGAs, 3 FGDs (one male group , one female group and one mixed gender) will be conducted giving a total of 21 FGDs. In addition, four (4) IDIs comprising two males and two females will be conducted in each LGA giving 28 IDIs for the qualitative data collection. Six hundred and thirty (630) households split into 420 rural households and 210 urban households will be sampled in a ratio of 2 rural households to 1 urban household. In each of the 7 selected LGAs, 90 households comprising 60 rural and 30 urban will be sampled. Purposive sampling will be employed to select equal proportion of male-headed households (MHHs) and female-headed households (FHHs) in each LGA to ensure representativeness of data. PCA will be used to analyse the indicators of exposure, susceptibility and resilience . Probit model will be used to estimate the socio-economic determinants of vulnerability to flood risk. Secondary data from remotely-sensed land use land cover data, digital elevation model, and gridded river channels will be utilized in the study. Furthermore, gender vulnerability to flood-conditioning factors in response to demographic characteristics will be constructed and further analysed in GIS environment to build flood inventory geodatabase that will show the spatial variations in vulnerability and to inform decision making in the study area.This research will provide evidence for the achievement of Nigeria government’s economic and environmental policy priorities especially the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), and the Nigeria Policy on Environment and also provide evidence to facilitate the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) especially those related to gender , poverty and livelihoods. Expected outcomes of the study include flood risk geodatabase of gendered vulnerability to floods in Kogi State, baseline data and model framework for future analysis of gendered vulnerability to flood hazards, policy briefs on gender vulnerability and adaptation to flood risk in Kogi State, Nigeria, journal articles, and working papers.
