Land Use Land Cover Dynamics and Farmland Intensity Analysis at Ouahigouya Municipality of Burkina Faso, West Africa

Oble Neya,Hypolite Tiendrebeogo,Kangbeni Dimobe,Benewinde J.-B Zoungrana,Tiga Neya,Joël Awouhidia Korahire,Akwasi A Abunyewa

doi:10.4236/ajcc.2020.91003

Abstract

Sahel zone has been reported as one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change, so serious attention must be paid to this zone by researchers and development actors who are interested in environmental-human dynamics and interactions. The aim of this study was to bring more insight into the impact of actions aiming at reducing land degradation, regreening the Sahel, stopping population migration and reducing the pressure on land in the Sahelian zone. The study focused on farmland dynamic in Ouahigouya municipality based on remote sensing data from 1986 to 2016 using intensity analysis. The annual time interval change was 0.77% and 2.46% for 1986-2001 and 2001-2016, respectively. Farmlands gained from mixt vegetation, water bodies and from bar lands. Mixed vegetation and water bodies were both active during both intervals while the other land use such as woodland and bar land were dormant. Combining land use land cover analysis and intensity analysis was found to be effective for assessing the differentiated impact of the various land restoration actions.

Highlights

In sub-Saharan Africa, where agriculture is rain-fed and characterized by smallholder farming, farmers developed several strategies to cope with low and variable productivity [1] [2] [3]
Combining land use land cover analysis and intensity analysis was found to be effective for assessing the differentiated impact of the various land restoration actions
This study aimed at responding to the following questions: 1) During which time intervals annual change area is relatively slow or fast? 2) Which land use categories are relatively dormant versus active ones during a given time interval? 3) Which transitions are targeted versus avoided during a given time interval in this area? This study will contribute to bringing more insight into the impact of actions aiming at reducing land degradation in the Sahelian zone

Summary

Introduction

In sub-Saharan Africa, where agriculture is rain-fed and characterized by smallholder farming, farmers developed several strategies to cope with low and variable productivity [1] [2] [3]. The impact of climate variability and change is felt so severely because livelihood and production systems are so tightly linked to the availability of rainwater in the northern region where Ouahigouya municipality is located [4] [5] [6]. This municipality is known for its high level of land degradation and water scarcity leading to population migration from this zone to the southwest where land fertility and amount of rainwater are far better. Since the severe drought of 1970, climate-smart agriculture and some practices such as zai, half-moon and irrigation initiatives, have been developed in the Sahelian zone [7] [8] [9]

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