Communicating Risk to the Invisible: Population Ageing, Disaster Communication Deficits, and Digital Inclusion Challenges in Sub- Saharan Africa

Abstract

Sub-Saharan Africa stands at the convergence of two accelerating crises: rapid population ageing and intensifying climate-related disaster risk. Yet a critical, underexamined dimension of this convergence is the systematic failure of disaster risk communication to reach, engage, or empower the region’s fastest-growing demographic: older adults. Between 2020 and 2050, SSA’s older adult population will triple from 74.4 million to 235.1 million, yet these individuals are systematically excluded from the digital communication architectures through which early warnings, risk information, evacuation directives, and post-disaster resources are increasingly disseminated. This paper argues that the crisis at the intersection of population ageing and disaster risk in SSA is, at its core, a communication crisis, one that is reproduced and deepened by digital divides, by the institutional invisibility of older adults in disaster risk governance, and by the failure to incorporate the rich indigenous knowledge systems that older Africans uniquely hold. Drawing on demographic data, epidemiological evidence, communication theory, and policy analysis, the paper identifies five compounding vulnerability pathways and proposes an integrated Geriatric Disaster Resilience Framework structured around age-inclusive communication architecture, digital equity, and participatory knowledge governance. The paper advances the case that achieving the Sendai Framework’s 2030 targets and the African Union’s Agenda 2063 resilience goals requires a fundamental reconceptualization of risk communication in SSA, one that treats older adults not as passive recipients of information but as both uniquely vulnerable audiences and irreplaceable knowledge actors.

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