Mapping the susceptibility of persons with disabilities to landslides in a highland landscape of Bushika Sub County, Mount Elgon, Eastern Uganda

Terrain parameters such as slope aspect, angle, curvature, stream power and altitude have been noted to spur landslide occurrence as well as, acting as a hindrance to evacuation efforts. Yet, persons with disabilities (PWDs) are seldom given priority during rescue and recovery programmes during pre- and post-disaster evacuation. The study was guided by two objectives, namely, (1) to map the landslide risk for households of PWDs and (2) to investigate the disability type that is perceived to be most affected by landslides. A cross-sectional household survey was adopted employing snowball sampling, Key Informant Interviews (KII), and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) for primary data collection. A 30-m Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) Digital Elevation Model (DEM) was used for terrain spatial landslide risk analysis in ArcGis 10.8 and System for Automated Geoscientific Analyses (SAGA) tools. A one-sample t-test in Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 was used to analyse the score values on a five-point Likert scale to ascertain the perceived landslide effect on the different disability categories. Qualitative data was subjected to content analysis. We found out that majority of PWDs live in high-risk landslide zones with 1400 m – 1700 m, S-E, 10–80, > 10, and –0.8–0.13 of altitude, aspect, slope angle, Stream Power Index (SPI), and slope curvature, respectively. T-test results revealed that blind and deaf-blind were perceived as most affected by landslides with t(31) = 58.42, mean = 4.7, p < 0.0001, and t(31) = 34.8, mean 4.6, p < 0.0001. The deaf people were perceived to also be highly affected by landslides with t(31) = 34.4, mean = 3.9, p < 0.0001. In conclusion, PWDs in Bushika were highly susceptible to landslide hazards and yet considered as a minority for rescue and recovery during landslide occurrences. We recommend for prioritisation of inclusive disaster programmes such as disaster training, relocation, and resettlement to reduce vulnerability and enhance landslides disaster resilience of PWDs especially in high-risk areas.