ImageCat’s Georgiana Esquivias took part in the “Do-It-Yourself Adaptation: New Pathways for Community Flood Risk Communication” project in Nigeria

14 Mar 2023

In February 2023, ImageCat’s Georgiana Esquivias traveled to Kano, Nigeria to take part in the “Do-It-Yourself Adaptation: New Pathways for Community Flood Risk Communication” project, made possible by Partnership for Skills in Applied Sciences, Engineering, and Technology (PASET). Ms. Esquivias was kindly hosted by the Center of Dryland Agriculture.

The Sahel region of Nigeria is suffering from years of weather extremes, frequent floods to droughts, that have created cycles of food insecurity, poverty, and other forms of social vulnerabilities, and weakened resilience to future hazards. The project’s main goal is to develop an innovative, integrated, interdisciplinary, knowledge-based, and solution-oriented approach to the creation of flood resilience and adaptation capacity within dryland rural communities. Ms. Esquivias participated in the project by developing a building and population exposure database.

This project is experimental, with its design processes involving principles of interdisciplinarity, knowledge co-production, and integration between scientists, practitioners, and community members. The focus is on the flood-vulnerable communities of the northeastern parts of Jigawa State in Nigeria. Since the goal is on making climate data, accessible and utilizable to the adaptation needs of rural people, the experiment aims to create inclusive and participatory scenarios that support women, children, and youth.