A Comparative Assessment of Household Flood Disaster Preparedness in Floodprone Rural and Urban Communities in Kaduna State, Nigeria

Background: Households are important elements in food disaster preparedness and play important role in its management. This study compared household food disaster preparedness in food-prone rural and urban communities in Kaduna State. Methods: The comparative cross-sectional study was conducted among households in foodprone rural and urban communities in 2019. The study population were household heads. The sample size for the study was 202 each for the rural and urban communities. Respondents were selected by multi- stage sampling technique. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Community members, community leaders and staff of Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) were also purposively selected for focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS 23.0 and the qualitative data using content analysis. Results: The mean ages (+SD) of the household heads in the rural and urban communities were 39.4±12.9 years and 43.7±13.9 years, respectively. Ten (2.5%) of the households in the urban communities were very prepared against foods but none in the rural communities. The most available household disaster preparedness elements in the rural communities were radio 150 (74.3%), flashlight 139 (68.8%) while house food insurance was non-existent. For the urban communities, the most available elements were availability of non-perishable food 147 (72.8%), household evacuation destination 147 (72.8%) while the least was house food insurance 2 (1.0%). Conclusion: The household food disaster preparedness was poor in both the rural and urban communities. There is need for effective food disaster education and training by SEMA for both communities.