Spatial Distribution of Landslides Vulnerability for the Risk Management in Ngororero District of Rwanda

Abstract

Understanding people’s hazard vulnerability magnitude enhances its risk awareness and preparedness as well. The objective of this study was to spatially differentiate landslides vulnerability toward relevant management of risk within Ngororero district, western Rwanda. The authors employed ten vulnerability triggering factors divided into social factors: population density, literacy rate, possession rate of mud houses and communication tools like mobile phone, radio or television, employment and rate of using unimproved drinking water. Whereas the ecological factors were rainfall, elevation, land use/cover and slope. The normalized weighting method in ArcGIS was employed to estimate and map landslides vulnerability and risk in the study area. The results indicated that the sectors largely inhabited with high elevation, slope, rainfall and limited communication tools along with low literacy rate record high landslides vulnerability and risk. This landslides vulnerability and risk mapping can help the vulnerable populations to understand the extent of their risk exposure. While policy makers can find out the way of formulating appropriate vulnerability lessening and risk reduction measures.