Exposure to Flood Early Warning Messages and Adoption of Safety Measures Among Farmers in Anambra North Senatorial Zone

The flood is a common natural disaster which has a devastating effect on farmers in Anambra North Senatorial Zone and has a negative impact on the economic growth of Nigeria. The early warning of floods notwithstanding the concerted efforts of the government, the media and the environmental agencies, casualties happen year after year due to the effects of floods. This paper looked at how farmers are exposed to flood warning messages and how they take precautionary measures. The study was determined the exposure of the farmers to the media warnings prior to the flood disaster, the media outlets that are most commonly used, the perception of the media warnings and their practicality, and the practice of safety measures on exposure to the media warnings. The paper is grounded on the theories of Social Responsibility and Agenda-Setting theories of mass media. In Anambra North, 400 farmers were sampled out of a population of 529000 using a multistage sampling process. The questionnaire was used to collect data. The results indicated a low rate of flood safety measures adoption even though most farmers reported being exposed to early warning systems against floods. The social media was the most used medium in the dissemination of the flood warnings to the farmers and this played a big role in determining how credible the warnings were to the farmers. The research found out that merely broadcasting flood warning is not enough; it needs to be credible messages delivered in an effective way to enhance believability and lead to adoption of safety measures. This study suggests that greater effort should be channeled towards improving the effectiveness and credibility of the flooding warning messages in order to better the preparedness and reaction of the farmers.