Factors Affecting the Drought Preparedness in Somaliland

Somaliland, located in the Horn of Africa, has been increasingly vulnerable to recurring droughts over the past years, severely affecting its agricultural productivity, water resources, and overall resilience. Despite the rising frequency of these natural disasters, there is limited research on the factors influencing residents’ preparedness, which hinders effective disaster management efforts. The purpose of this study was to examine factors that influence the perceived effectiveness of Somaliland residents towards drought preparedness by utilizing an extended Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) approach. The latent variables that were considered in this study were Government Intervention, Drought Awareness, Environmental Awareness, Coping Appraisal, Threat Appraisal, Behavioral Intention, and Perceived Effectiveness. Two hundred fifty-four (254) people living in Somaliland from all regional areas willingly responded to the survey questions by utilizing a snowball sampling method. Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) showed that drought awareness and environmental awareness had significant effects on threat appraisal. In addition, environmental awareness also had a significant positive effect on coping appraisal. Finally, threat appraisal and coping appraisal had significant effects on behavioral intention, which subsequently led to perceived effectiveness. This study addresses a gap in academic research and disaster preparedness efforts in Somaliland by providing insights into the theoretical framework that can enhance the country’s preparedness for drought and other natural hazards.