| dc.description.abstract | The resilience of Persons with disabilities (PwDs) in landslide-prone areas is not well
understood and yet this information is vital in reducing risks through building resilience in
the disaster-prone areas. Resilience of PwDs is anchored on four factors that is risk exposure,
socioeconomic, individual‟s functioning resilience, and the individual's housing
infrastructure. This study, therefore, mapped the landslide susceptibility at PwD places of
living and investigated the most affected disability. It also assessed the level of resilience and
explored the mechanisms being used to build resilience among PwDs. Bushika being the
hotspot for landslides and with the highest population of PwDs, a sample size of 55
households with PwDs above 18years was considered for snowball sampling. Key Informant
Interviews (KII), Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were also used to collect qualitative data.
Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers and 30x30 meter SRTM DEM were used to
generate the terrain factors. Descriptive and inferential statstics were computed in SPSS
statistics 23 and Excel 2016. Perception-based analysis, spatial analyst tools in ArcGIS,
Version 10.1, and Systems for Automated Geospatial Analysis (SAGA) version 7.7 were
used in data analysis. Results showed that the majority of PwDs live in areas susceptible to
landslides. There was a significant difference (Friedman‟s Test Assymp. Sig<0.05) in the
level of landslide impacts. The blind and Deaf-blind were perceived as most affected by
landslides with total scores of 151 and 148 all out of 160 respectively. With moderate risk
exposure, the level of an individual‟s functioning and housing infrastructure were low at
geometric means of 1.4 and 1.2 respectively. The socioeconomic capital was moderate at a
geometric mean of 2. The overall resilience of the PwDs was low (RRI=1.57), with the
majority 94% having low resilience, 3.2% lower, and 3.2% moderate resilience. Relocation,
assistive devices, early warning, disaster training, participation in recovery plans, and other
mechanisms such as animal keeping, constructing the protective barrier, leveling the ground
before house construction were being used to cope with landslides risks. Self-help groups
were distinctively perceived as most effective in building their resilience with the highest
total score of 167 out of 192; stdev=42. The study recommends that more efforts should be
put into groups that can be platforms for disaster trainings as well as financial support which
directly stimulates infrastructural and functioning resilience of PwDs. | en_US |
