EFFECT OF ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT ON SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN RWANDA A CASE STUDY OF MUSANZE DISTRICT

Abstract

The study of whether environmental disasters are a real obstacle to the growth and socio economic development of a country is a study that is being carried out by many experts, considering that environmental disasters are unpredictable events but have a real effect on the economy. Ample research has been done on disasters and socioeconomic indicators, but little has been done on how environmental disaster management affects community socioeconomic development or how the community contributes to managing the disaster rather than leaving it to the responsible authorities and environmental disaster management experts. Therefore, this study tries to close a research gap in environmental economics by examining the impact of environmental disaster management on Rwanda's socioeconomic development by emphasizing on community of selected sectors of Musanze District. To determine the structural relationship between environment disaster management and socio economic development, the multiple linear regression model is used. This approach is an approach previously not found in economic and environmental studies. This study uses primary data collected 476 households from Muko, Kinigi, Nyange, Musanze, Shingiro, Gataraga and Busogo sectors. The participant households were selected using systematic sampling technique, based on the interval between households. Regression analysis revealed a positive relationship (R = 953). The R coefficient of 0.953 indicates that the predictors of the model which land slide management and flooding management, have an effect of 95.3% with the dependent variable (social economic development) The study also revealed that a combination of land slide management and flooding management together contributed to 90.8% (R²= 0.908) of the social economic development. The researcher noticed that Musanze district implemented measures to mitigate the impact of climate change on the livelihood of Musanze district households; therefore, the researcher concluded that environmental disaster management had an impact on Musanze's socioeconomic development. However, in some area of the research, researcher found there is a need of improvement especially on environmental degradation management and climate change management since they showed a week effect on social economic development of Musanze district.

Key words: , Disaster,,,