# Community resilience to climate change and non-communicable disease vulnerability in Yaoundé, Cameroon: insights from community-based systems dynamics

## TL;DR

The study explores how community resilience to flooding in Yaoundé, Cameroon, affects non-communicable disease risks, revealing connections between climate change and health.

## Contribution

The paper introduces a systems-level understanding of how community resilience strategies influence NCD risk factors in an urban African context.

## Key findings

- Community-led flood resilience strategies like waste management and drainage maintenance improve hygiene and reduce health risks.
- Political interests and weak enforcement limit long-term resilience efforts in Yaoundé.
- Resilience strategies are linked to changes in diet and physical activity, key NCD risk factors.

## Abstract

Climate change and rapid urbanisation have intensified flood risk in Global South cities, exacerbating health inequities, especially through non-communicable diseases (NCDs). However, little is known about how community resilience strategies to key climate change consequences like flooding affect NCD risk in rapidly growing cities of the Global South.

We used a Community-Based System Dynamics (CBSD) approach to examine flood resilience strategies, the determinants, and health implications of these strategies in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The study included semi-structured interviews and a participatory modelling workshop with 12 purposively sampled community stakeholders (including from the municipality, urban planning, civil society organisation, local leadership, and people affected by flooding), accompanied by an iterative development and analysis of a causal loop diagram (CLD) to capture key variables, relationships, and feedback loops.

The finalised CLD incorporated 14 key variables and featured five major feedback loops (four reinforcing, one balancing) that shape flood resilience. Community-led strategies—such as waste management, tree planting, drainage maintenance, and the construction of flood-resistant infrastructure—were driven by municipal support, enforcement of planning rules, and adaptation within informal settlements. Participants described how these strategies improved hygiene, enhanced access to food and physical activity spaces, and reduced immediate health risks. However, political interests and inadequate enforcement constrained long-term resilience. Importantly, the study identified plausible pathways through which community actors perceived flood resilience strategies influenced diet and physical activity, the main NCD risk factors, thus highlighting the climate change-NCD syndemic in an urban African context.

Participatory CBSD provided novel, systems-level insights into community resilience, revealing dynamic feedback between local action, governance, and health. Integrating community-led approaches into formal disaster risk management and urban health policy is essential for sustainable, equitable resilience.