2023 Volume 11 Issue 2 Article ID: 23-27035
Burkina Faso, a Sahelian country, has witnessed an increase in flooding events over the last few decades. With increasing concerns about climate change, the frequency and severity of flooding events in the country are expected to rise. Effective flood risk mitigation requires information collection in relation with socioeconomic factors like poverty. However, while previous studies have explored the association between floods and poverty at the intra-urban and household levels there is still limited understanding of this association on regional and national scales, especially in a country with data constraints. Therefore, this study aimed to provide valuable insights by mapping flood-sensitive areas, quantifying potentially exposed populations and investigating the relationship between poverty and flood exposure in Burkina Faso through a poverty index. To achieve these objectives, Geographical Information System (GIS) tools were employed with remote sensing data, including nighttime lights and flood extent. In 20 years, the number of people potentially affected by floods increased by 43.9 % on a national scale. Sahel, North-Central, Boucle-duMouhoun, and North regions would be the most vulnerable to a 50 years return period target flood. Areas with higher proportions of poverty were South-Central, North-Central, North, and Sahel following the results of the poverty index between 2000 and 2015. The relationship between floods and poverty was confirmed on a national and regional scale and most of the flood-affected regions also happen to have a high poverty index. Furthermore, this study sheds light on the vulnerability of the northern regions of Burkina Faso.
