Conference Agenda

Climate-related disasters such as floods are increasingly severe due to climate change. This is particularly the case in cities witnessing rapid urbanization and widespread poverty. In these settings, mobilizing local communities for flood prevention may be key to economic development. This paper follows a community-level intervention in a Mozambican coastal city with increasing population pressures and recurrent floods. It nudged communities and leaders to select and implement their own climate adaptation projects. This was achieved through the organization of a sequence of community meetings and the provision of technical information, validated by local and international water experts and made specific to the circumstances of each block of the city. The technical information included details of suitable small-scale infrastructural improvements, e.g., drainage canals, as well as of appropriate waste management. The intervention also offered seed grants to help local resource mobilization. We employ a clustered randomized controlled trial design with multiple survey rounds, supplemented by data from structured community activities, enumerator observations, photographs, and focus group discussions. Our results during/after the first rainy season following the intervention show that the treatment shifted attitudes toward personal responsibility and collective efficacy of local block leaders, who are seen as central to enabling impact, and improved observed localized cleanliness. We also register less flooding in flood-prone points and increased walkability. We conclude that a community-driven approach to disaster risk prevention can be effective. These are preliminary results based on short-term outcomes; a further round of endline data collection is pending.