Modelling Land Degradation in Migori County

Abstract

Land degradation is a complex environmental problem which results from different factors. Identification of areas vulnerable to degradation over different times is important in the development of natural resource management and to safeguard the environment. The objective of this study was to model land degradation vulnerability in Migori County for over 30 year period, through the integration of GIS, RS and multicriteria analysis. Land degradation variables identified through previous literatures and opinion from expert groups were, soil erosivity, soil erodibility, slope length, vegetation cover, and population density. The County was classified into 6 land use land cover classes, open water, wetlands, wooded grassland, open grassland, crop land and other land, using supervised classification. Change detection was carried out and expansion of crop land