Assessing the spatial drivers of land use and land cover change in the protected and communal areas of the Zambezi Region, Namibia
- Authors: Kamwi, Jonathan , Cho, Moses , Kaetsch, Christoph , Manda, Samuel , Graz, Friedrich , Chirwa, Paxie
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Land Vol. 7, no. 4 (2018), p. 1-13
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- Description: Understanding the patterns and drivers of land use and land cover (LULC) changes is fundamental for rational and specific planning for sustainable land management. Using remote sensing techniques, geographic information systems (GIS) and statistical modeling via multinomial logistic regression, we sought to identify spatial variables that determine LULC change and their extent over time in the protected and communal areas of the Zambezi Region, Namibia. Multi-temporal satellite imagery of the Landsat series was used to map changes over a period of twenty-six years, divided into three stages (1984-1991, 1991-2000 and 2000-2010). Post classification change detection methodologies were used to determine conversions between LULC classes. Additionally, socio-economic characteristics of the area were used to identify drivers of changes. Four spatial drivers of LULC change that we identified included the distance to the nearest road, distance to settlements, population density and fire return periods. Population density, distance to settlements and fire return period were significantly associated with conversion from crop/grass land to crop/grass land and forest land to crop/grass, forest land to bare land and forest land to forest land in the protected area. In communal areas, distance to the road was found to significantly influence conversion from crop/grass land to crop/grass land. The study concluded that the influence of these drivers is attributable to distinct political and agro-demographical differences during the study period. Policy makers and planners need to take these drivers into consideration together with their subsidiaries to respond and make sound decisions regarding undesirable changes in LULC.
Livelihood activities and skills in rural areas of the Zambezi Region, Namibia : Implications for policy and poverty reduction
- Authors: Kamwi, Jonathan , Chirwa, Paxie , Graz, Patrick , Manda, Samuel , Mosimane, Alfons , Katsch, Christoph
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development Vol. 18, no. 1 (2018), p. 13074-13094
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- Description: This paper examined livelihood activities and skill sets available within rural households in the Zambezi Region of Namibia. Specifically, the study addressed three key questions: (i) what livelihood activities do rural people pursue? (ii) what demographic factors are associated with these activities? and (iii) what measures can be taken to diversify and sustain income from these livelihood activities? In order to address these questions, semistructured interviews covering 424 households were used to collect the data. The questionnaire consisted of questions corresponding to the sustainable livelihood framework including (1) human assets (2) financial assets and major sources of income (3) physical and natural assets and (4) social assets. A series of logistic regressions were fitted from which the estimated odds ratios (y) were derived to ascertain the effect of the predictors on the livelihood activities and skills. Odds ratios were used to measure the magnitude of strength of association or non-independence between binary data values. The results showed that the use of various livelihood activities and skills in different combinations is of significant importance to rural livelihoods. Five percent of the respondents obtained income from only one source, with 95 % of the respondents engaged in a combination of farming and non-farming activities. Most of the respondents had various reasons for diversifying into other activities vis-a-vis agricultural income, limited skills, large family size, availability of opportunities, seasonal nature of agricultural produce, favourable demand for goods and services or a combination of these. In addition, the results showed that gender, age, designation and education significantly (p < 0.05) influenced the choice of household's skills. The study concludes that a combination of rural household activities and skills influenced by a variety of factors have led to improved livelihoods in the study area. For policy purposes, this suggests that state interventions in rural livelihood skill development can play a significant role in promoting more sustainable rural livelihoods. © 2018, African Scholarly Science Communications Trust (ASSCAT).
Livelihoods, land use and land cover change in the Zambezi Region, Namibia
- Authors: Kamwi, Jonathan , Chirwa, Paxie , Manda, Samuel , Graz, Patrick , Katsch, Christoph
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Population and Environment Vol. 37, no. 2 (2015), p. 207-230
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- Description: This paper examines the socio-economic drivers of land use and land cover change and assesses the impacts of such changes to rural livelihoods in the Zambezi region of northern Namibia. We carried out a longitudinal analysis of Landsat imagery of land use and land cover. The analysis revealed that the amount of land in the region covered by forest increased significantly in the period from 1991 to 2010 whilst crop/grass land decreased. Focus group meetings, key informant interviews and semi-structured interviews covering 424 households stratified by gender were used. The results show that natural resource uses are vitally important in the rural livelihoods. The drivers of land use and land cover change are agricultural expansion, population increase and illegal logging. Livelihood coping strategies include piecework, food aid, borrowing from relatives and wild food collection. By gender stratification, piecework contributed 37 and 63 % while agriculture contributed 29 and 71 % of the income of male- and female-headed households. Logistic regression analysis showed knowledge of regulations, age group and species availability significantly (p < 0.05) influenced the choice of a household's livelihood coping strategy. The study concludes that the changes in coping strategies influenced by a variety of factors have led to the diminished use of natural resources. For policy purposes, this suggests that state interventions can play a significant role in promoting more sustainable natural resource usage. This analysis enables effective decision-making to reconcile the efforts of sustainable development and natural resource management. © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.
Trends in land use and land cover change in the protected and communal areas of the Zambezi Region, Namibia
- Authors: Kamwi, Jonathan , Kaetsch, Christoph , Graz, Patrick , Chirwa, Paxie , Manda, Samuel
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Vol. 189, no. 5 (2017), p. 1-18
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- Description: Land management decisions have extensively modified land use and land cover in the Zambezi Region. These decisions are influenced by land tenure classifications, legislation, and livelihoods. Land use and land cover change is an important indicator for quantifying the effectiveness of different land management strategies. However, there has been no evidence on whether protected or communal land tenure is more affected by land use and land cover changes in southern Africa and particularly Namibia. Our study attempted to fill this gap by analyzing the relationship between land use and land cover change and land tenure regimes stratified according to protected and communal area in the Zambezi Region. Multi-temporal Landsat TM and ETM+ imagery were used to determine the temporal dynamics of land use and land cover change from 1984 to 2010. The landscape showed distinctive modifications over the study period; broad trends include the increase in forest land after 1991. However, changes were not uniform across the study areas. Two landscape development stages were deduced: (1) 1984–1991 represented high deforestation and gradual increase in shrub land; (2) 1991–2000 and 2000–2010 represented lower deforestation and slower agropastoral expansion. The results further show clear patterns of the dynamics, magnitude, and direction of land use and land cover change by tenure regime. The study concluded that land tenure has a direct impact on land use and land cover, since it may restrict some activities carried out on the land in the Zambezi Region. © 2017, Springer International Publishing Switzerland.