IMPACTS OF LAND USE LAND COVER CHANGE AND DROUGHT ON PASTORAL PERI- URBAN AREAS

Abstract

Agriculture is a major contributor to the Kenyan economy and how it performs transforms greatly to the performance of the Kenyan economy in general. Land is the major factor of production in Kenya and for this it has a great influence on the Agricultural sector.80% of Kenyan land is classified as arid and Semi-arid areas (ASAL) and it is home to approximately 50% of its livestock population, a major contributor to the agricultural sector in Kenya. Kajiado County is classified as an arid and semi-arid area with the main economic activity of the residents being livestock rearing with pastoralism being the being the major form of livestock rearing. Its proximity to Nairobi city has made it a suitable location for influx of immigrants who want to escape the population pressure in Nairobi County. This has led to an emergence of conflicting interest in land use between traditional livestock rearing (pastoralism) and urban sprawl accompanied by land fragmentation for settlement. This land use land cover changes coupled with frequent drought occurrences in the county have led to shrinkage in sustainable grazing lands greatly reducing the main economic mainstay of the people livestock rearing. This project tries to analyze changes in land use land cover as well as drought and how the two influences pastoralism in Kajiado County. Satellite images from the year 1987-2019 were obtained and classified into various land cover classes. Change detection algorithm was applied to derive percentage change in land cover between various epochs with significant land cover changes being noted in rangelands, forests, built-up areas and bare land. Only water showed little change. Satellite based drought monitoring techniques were employed to detect drought occurrences and its severity over selected years based on location. A relationship between livestock population, drought and land use land cover change was shown to exist where both drought and land use land cover changes negatively affected livestock population in areas where the two phenomena occurred.