LAUSR

Abstract Despite efforts by the Nigerian government to improve on flood infrastructure, the yearly incidences of floods have remained unabated and put households under threats. This study examined the factors that determine households' (flood victims) choice of flood coping strategies in the Jigawa State, Nigeria. Although some of the strategies can also be considered as flood mitigation strategies, the emphasis is on coping strategies. The study used survey data from 251 randomly selected households (flood victims of 2016) and the data was analysed using multivariate probit and random forest models. The results show that factors such as sex, age, education, occupation, income, housing status, flood education and location in specific local government areas are significant in determining households' choice of flood coping strategies. Among the flood coping strategies analysed, access to credit from banks, seeking government's support and access to early warning information systems are crucial. The findings led to the conclusion that policies and programmes designed to manage and reduce flood risks must take into account the input of all relevant stakeholders, particularly the different age and income groups. The study also recommends the need for institutions in charge of flood disaster risk reduction and management to focus more on investing in non-structural measures of flood control to improve households resilience to floods.