Abstract
This research aimed to investigate how the rapid land use and cover changes is affecting pastoral resources and practices within Kompienga province in Sudanian zone of Burkina Faso. To achieve this aim, Landsat images data of years 1989, 2001, 2013 and 2015 were retrieved and analysed. Images were acquired following the path 193 and row 52, from Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper (TM), Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) and Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI). Images processing were done using 350 training sample for both; the purpose of supervised classification and accuracy assessment. Random Forest Algorithm (RFA) procedures in R-Software (version 3.3.2) were used for images classification. Furthermore, survey data were collected through group discussions and individual interviews with a 271 head of household respondents (pastoralists and agro-pastoralists) to investigate respondents’ perceptions on land uses and covers changes and its impacts on their pastoral and agro pastoral resources and animal husbandry practices. Results showed that Land use dynamics was characterized by an increase in croplands at an average rate of 46.7 % per year, between 1989 and 2015. On the contrary a decline of pasture lands was observed since 2001 at an average rate of 6.0 % per year. Similar trends in land uses changes were observed by interviewed respondents who depicted an increase in cropping lands (98.5 % of respondents) to the detriment of pasture lands (97.8 % of respondents). To overcome these land use/land cover changes and it subsequent consequences, respondent pastoralists and agro pastoralists have developed local adaptations strategies. Thus, some measures are still needed at government level to sustain local pastoralist and agro-pastoralist efforts and strengthen their adaptive capacity.
Highlights
Protected areas and agroforestry parklands are the two major land-use types in West African ecosystems (Nacoulma et al, 2011)
Anthropogenic activities underpin changes in landscape leading to the apparition of some given land cover types to the expense of others
This process is fuelled by population growth which leads to increasing pressure on natural resources in a context of West Africa, where the majority of people livelihoods directly depend on natural resources exploitation
Summary
Protected areas and agroforestry parklands are the two major land-use types in West African ecosystems (Nacoulma et al, 2011). Anthropogenic activities underpin changes in landscape leading to the apparition of some given land cover types to the expense of others This process is fuelled by population growth which leads to increasing pressure on natural resources in a context of West Africa, where the majority of people livelihoods directly depend on natural resources exploitation. This increase is mostly dependent on croplands areas expansion (229 %) rather than the increase in crop yields (42 %) (Blein et al, 2008) The consequences of such expansion are rapid declines in natural vegetation covers such forests and savannahs (Lambin et al, 2003, Leblanc et al, 2008), leading to a widespread land use and land cover dynamics (Boone et al, 2016). Agricultural lands expansion occurred mainly in the western and southern areas of the country, including Kompienga Province located in the Sudanian zone of Burkina Faso where climate and other environmental conditions are relatively good compared the Sahelian zone
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