The implications of land use and land cover changes for rural household food insecurity in the Northeastern highlands of Ethiopia: The case of the Teleyayen sub-watershed

Abstract

Background: Ethiopia has tremendous agricultural potential with vast areas of fertile land. However, agriculture remains underdeveloped and poverty persists, especially in rural areas. Therefore, this study examined the implications of land use and land cover changes on rural household food insecurity in the Teleyayen sub-watershed, which covers an area of 152 km2. Methods: Landsat satellite images of 1973, 1986 and 2015 were used to analyze the spatial and temporal changes. LU-LC changes of the study area were detected from a time series of such satellite images using Remote Sensing (ERDAS Imagine 9.2) and GIS (ArcMap 10.3) software. Additional data were collected through Global Positioning System, key informant interviews, focus group discussions and field observations. Results and discussion: The results of the study showed that forest lands declined from 3.8% in 1973 to 0.2% in 2015. The total forest lands cleared between 1973 and 2015 amounts to 552 ha. This is 95% of the forest cover that existed in 1973. Similarly, shrub lands declined from 28.4% in 1973 to 24.9% in 2015. Meanwhile, crop lands and rural settlements increased from 38.6% in 1973 to 44.1% in 1986 and 54.4% in 2015. The greatest expansion of crop lands and rural settlements occurred between 1986 and 2015 (81%). This kind of conversion could be at the expense of grass lands, shrub lands, marginal lands and forest lands. The major driving forces were found to be population growth, shortage of farm lands and shortage of rainfall, which in turn exacerbated the food security problems. Land degradation, rural-urban migration, farm land fragmentation, climate change, crop yield reduction and soil erosion are also identified as major implications of land use and land cover changes. Conclusions: The observed land use and land cover changes are caused by population pressure as well as expansion of agricultural lands through unplanned and inappropriate land management practices in order to meet the food demands of the rapidly growing population. Therefore, it is worthwhile to link food security policies with sustainable land management policies because both are closely interrelated with each other. It is also advisable to decentralize responsibilities and financial resources to local farmers and local administrative bodies so as to improve their food security status. This decentralization could help lead to adequate access to information on agricultural inputs, land management and food security services.