Land-Cover Change Trajectories in Northern Ghana
- 5 July 2005
- journal article
- profile
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Environmental Management
- Vol. 36 (3), 356-373
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-004-0283-7
Abstract
Land-cover change trajectories are an emergent property of complex human–environment systems such as the land-use system. An understanding of the factors responsible for land change trajectories is fundamental for land-use planning and the development of land-related policies. The aims of this study were to characterize and identify the spatial determinants of agricultural land-cover change trajectories in northern Ghana. Land-cover change trajectories were defined using land-cover maps prepared from Landsat Thematic Mapper dataset acquired in 1984, 1992, and 1999. Binary logistic regression was used to model the probability of observing the trajectories as a function of spatially explicit biophysical and socioeconomic independent variables. Population densities generally increased along the continuum of land-use intensity, whereas distance from market and roads generally decreased along this continuum. Apparently, roads and market serve as incentives for settlement and agricultural land use. An increase in population density is an important spatial determinant only for trajectories where the dominant change process is agricultural extensification. A major response to population growth is an increase in cultivation frequency around the main market. Agricultural intensification is highly sensitive to accessibility by roads. The increase in land-use intensity is also associated with low soil quality. These results suggest the need for policies to restore soil fertility for agricultural sustainability. The models also provide a means for identifying functional relationships for in-depth analyses of land-use change in Ghana.Keywords
This publication has 23 references indexed in Scilit:
- Technological change in agriculture and land degradation in Bangladesh: a case studyLand Degradation & Development, 2004
- Seasonal migration and land‐use change in GhanaLand Degradation & Development, 2004
- Dynamics of Land-Use and Land-Cover Change in Tropical RegionsAnnual Review of Environment and Resources, 2003
- Predicting the Location of Deforestation: The Role of Roads and Protected Areas in North ThailandLand Economics, 2001
- Structural Adjustment and Economic Efficiency of Rice Farmers in Northern GhanaEconomic Development and Cultural Change, 2000
- Fertilizer P transformations and P availability in hillslope soils of northern GhanaNutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 1998
- Modelling and monitoring land-cover change processes in tropical regionsProgress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment, 1997
- The economic determinants of land degradation in developing countriesPhilosophical Transactions Of The Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 1997
- Induced intensification: Agricultural change in Bangladesh with implications for Malthus and BoserupProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 1996
- Roads, Land Use, and Deforestation: A Spatial Model Applied to BelizeThe World Bank Economic Review, 1996