Household Flood Severity and Migration Extent in Central Java: Analysis of the Indonesian Family Life Survey

Breanne K Langlois; Leah Beaulac; Katherine Berry; Oyedolapo Anyanwu; Ryan B Simpson; Aris Ismanto; Magaly Koch; Erin Coughlan de Perez; Timothy Griffin; Elena N Naumova

doi:10.3390/ijerph20095706

Household Flood Severity and Migration Extent in Central Java: Analysis of the Indonesian Family Life Survey

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 May 2;20(9):5706. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20095706.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA.
² Department of Oceanography, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, Universitas Diponegoro, Semarang 50275, Indonesia.
³ Center for Remote Sensing, Department of Earth & Environment, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
⁴ Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, 2502 KC The Hague, The Netherlands.

Abstract

Central Java, Indonesia, is prone to river and coastal flooding due to climate changes and geological factors. Migration is one possible adaptation to flooding, but research is limited due to lack of longitudinal spatially granular datasets on migration and metrics to identify flood-affected households. The available literature indicates social and economic barriers may limit mobility from flood prone areas. The Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS) provides self-reported data on household experiences with natural disasters among 1501 Central Java households followed over two waves (2007 and 2014). We examined how the severity of flooding, defined by household-level impacts captured by the IFLS (death, injury, financial loss, or relocation of a household member), influenced the extent of household movement in Central Java using a generalized ordered logit/partial proportional odds model. Households severely impacted by floods had 75% lower odds of moving farther away compared to those that did not experience floods. The most severely impacted households may be staying within flood-affected areas in Central Java. Public health, nutrition, and economic surveys should include modules focused on household experiences, impacts, and adaptations to facilitate the study of how climate changes are impacting these outcomes.

Keywords: adaptation; climate change; disasters; flooding; migration; vulnerability.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Acclimatization
Disasters*
Family Characteristics
Floods*
Humans
Indonesia

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service Fellowship (grant number 2020-38420-30724, ENN and TG); the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) Program’s Solution-Oriented, Student-Initiated, Computationally-Enriched (SOLSTICE) training and learning approach (grant number 1855886, ENN); and the NSF International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) grant: US-Indonesian Research Experience for Students on Sustainable Adaptation of Coastal Areas to Environmental Change (grant number 1826939, ENN and MK). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.