Kerala State Report: Community Participation in Rebuilding Kerala

Following the catastrophic 2018 floods and landslides in Kerala, the state government launched the Janakeeya Pankalithavum Punarnirmanavum – Initiative (JPP-I) to institutionalize community participation and accountability in disaster recovery, aiming to strengthen feedback mechanisms, ensure transparency, and integrate the voices of affected—especially vulnerable—populations into planning and rebuilding processes.

The second round of JPP-I adopted a mixed-methods research design, combining a large-scale structured household survey with qualitative focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KIIs), to deeply assess the effectiveness of relief efforts, community engagement, grievance redressal systems, and disaster preparedness across the seven most affected districts; the sample included 3,960 households from 99 Local Self Government Institutions (LSGIs), as well as targeted consultations with vulnerable groups and local officials.

Findings from this participatory process were reviewed collaboratively with government departments and local authorities, integrated into disaster management sectoral recovery plans, and communicated back to communities through the Kudumbashree network, ensuring that community feedback directly informed ongoing policy, program design, and future risk mitigation strategies.