An Analysis of Land use and Land cover Characteristics of Kanke, Pankshin, and Langtang Local Government Areas, Plateau State, Nigeria.

                                                                                           

Andesikuteb, Y.A.,1 Musa, W.W.,2 Ezra, L.V.,3 Obasi, M.T.,3 Rogers, R.G.4 and Mohammed, Y.T.5

1Department of Environmental Management, Bingham University, Karu, Nasarawa State, Nigeria.

3Department of Environmental Management, Faculty of Environmental Science, Kaduna State University, Nigeria.

5Savanna Forestry Research Station, Zaria.

Corresponding email: andesikutebali@gmail.com

 

Abstract

This study assessed landuse and landcover changes and how they affect the agrarian production in Kanke, Pankshin and Langtang North Local Government Areas of plateau state, Nigeria. The study adopted the survey design. The primary data was obtained through field observations, interview of stakeholders, satellite (landsat8 and shuttle radar terrain mission) and questionnaire administration which asked questions on socioeconomic status of respondents, constraints to farmers and the respondents’ perception on the existing adaptation strategies in place. ArcGIS10.6version software was employed for the classification of land cover types while supervised classification method was adopted using maximum likelihood algorithm for the classification of feature types. Data generated by Landsat8 and ArcGIS10.6 version software were subjected to Pan-Sharpening processing for clarity of terrain features. The study findings revealed that 66.13% of the earth’s surface in the study area is covered by rock outcrops while water body; one of man’s most precious resources occupied less than 1% (0.15%). The distribution of farmers based on constraints to farming indicated that poor soils and small farm land sizes constituted the most severe challenges to farming activities in the study area. As an adaptation strategy to inadequate farm lands, terrace farming practice and dry season farming, large scale quarrying activities is recommended to serve as a source of employment and income to authorities and a means of surface leveling to convert the dominant rock outcrops to productive  land and prioritizing farming in the limited plains.

 

Keywords: Agrarian Activities, Land Resources, Landcover, Landuse, Water Resources