Arnold, Kathryn ALe Roux, AlizeMakhanya, Sibusisiwe A2018-12-112018-12-112018-09Arnold, K.A., Le Roux, A. and Makhanya, S.A. 2018. Implementing a GIS based methodology for determining highly vulnerable rural access roads to a changing climate in Ethiopia. Proceedings of the AfricaGEO 2018 Conference, Emperor's Palace, Johannesburg, South Africa, 17-19 September 2018, pp. 120-138978-0-620-80873-6https://africageo.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/AG2018-programme2.pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10204/10593Paper delivered during the AfricaGEO 2018 Conference, Emperor's Palace, Johannesburg, South Africa, 17-19 September 2018Climate-related natural disasters have been steadily increasing in both incidence and intensity across the globe over the last century. This is especially true for Ethiopia given the country’s high and recurrent exposure to extreme droughts and floods, the two most notorious disasters that have impacted on the country’s development trajectory and the livelihoods of its citizens. Climate-related risks are the major driver of hunger and food insecurity in Ethiopia, with the majority of poor communities being most vulnerable to their impacts. Due to the high degree of food and water insecurity caused partially by climate variability, it is argued that improved rural accessibility is vital to reducing the number of highly vulnerable communities, and increasing rural resilience. In this paper, a geospatial indicator-based risk and vulnerability assessment method was applied as a tool for determining rural access roads that are highly vulnerable to changing climate in Ethiopia. The assessment is intended to help guide, through prioritisation, the identification of highly vulnerable areas where appropriate climate adaptation measures would be most effective in reducing the impacts of climate variability and change. The research methodology relies on using GIS processes and spatial data to calculate a composite vulnerability index, the combined output of a hazard exposure index as well as a road criticality index, for identifying regions most at risk. It was found that almost half of Ethiopia’s districts, mostly in the Awash River Basin and southern Somali lowlands, are highly vulnerable to a changing climate in terms of the impact on rural accessibility. The paper further elaborates on the processes used to identify major climate hazards affecting roads in Ethiopia as well as open source data sets used in this analysis. The methodology was validated through an elaborate stakeholder engagement process and was found to be an accurate, efficient and effective way of identifying high-risk regions in terms of community dependence on roads for accessibility and the physical impact of climate on road infrastructure in Ethiopia.enGISRiskVulnerabilityComposite indicatorRural accessResilienceClimate hazardClimate changeClimate adaptationRisk managementEthiopiaConference PresentationArnold, K. A., Le Roux, A., & Makhanya, S. A. (2018). Implementing a GIS based methodology for determining highly vulnerable rural access roads to a changing climate in Ethiopia. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/10593Arnold, Kathryn A, Alize Le Roux, and Sibusisiwe A Makhanya. "Implementing a GIS based methodology for determining highly vulnerable rural access roads to a changing climate in Ethiopia." (2018): http://hdl.handle.net/10204/10593Arnold KA, Le Roux A, Makhanya SA, Implementing a GIS based methodology for determining highly vulnerable rural access roads to a changing climate in Ethiopia; 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/10593 .TY - Conference Presentation AU - Arnold, Kathryn A AU - Le Roux, Alize AU - Makhanya, Sibusisiwe A AB - Climate-related natural disasters have been steadily increasing in both incidence and intensity across the globe over the last century. This is especially true for Ethiopia given the country’s high and recurrent exposure to extreme droughts and floods, the two most notorious disasters that have impacted on the country’s development trajectory and the livelihoods of its citizens. Climate-related risks are the major driver of hunger and food insecurity in Ethiopia, with the majority of poor communities being most vulnerable to their impacts. Due to the high degree of food and water insecurity caused partially by climate variability, it is argued that improved rural accessibility is vital to reducing the number of highly vulnerable communities, and increasing rural resilience. In this paper, a geospatial indicator-based risk and vulnerability assessment method was applied as a tool for determining rural access roads that are highly vulnerable to changing climate in Ethiopia. The assessment is intended to help guide, through prioritisation, the identification of highly vulnerable areas where appropriate climate adaptation measures would be most effective in reducing the impacts of climate variability and change. The research methodology relies on using GIS processes and spatial data to calculate a composite vulnerability index, the combined output of a hazard exposure index as well as a road criticality index, for identifying regions most at risk. It was found that almost half of Ethiopia’s districts, mostly in the Awash River Basin and southern Somali lowlands, are highly vulnerable to a changing climate in terms of the impact on rural accessibility. The paper further elaborates on the processes used to identify major climate hazards affecting roads in Ethiopia as well as open source data sets used in this analysis. The methodology was validated through an elaborate stakeholder engagement process and was found to be an accurate, efficient and effective way of identifying high-risk regions in terms of community dependence on roads for accessibility and the physical impact of climate on road infrastructure in Ethiopia. DA - 2018-09 DB - ResearchSpace DP - CSIR KW - GIS KW - Risk KW - Vulnerability KW - Composite indicator KW - Rural access KW - Resilience KW - Climate hazard KW - Climate change KW - Climate adaptation KW - Risk management KW - Ethiopia LK - https://researchspace.csir.co.za PY - 2018 SM - 978-0-620-80873-6 T1 - Implementing a GIS based methodology for determining highly vulnerable rural access roads to a changing climate in Ethiopia TI - Implementing a GIS based methodology for determining highly vulnerable rural access roads to a changing climate in Ethiopia UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10204/10593 ER -