Sanogo, N.D.M.; Dayamba, S.D.; Renaud, F.G.; Feurer, M. From Wooded Savannah to Farmland and Settlement: Population Growth, Drought, Energy Needs and Cotton Price Incentives Driving Changes in Wacoro, Mali. Land 2022, 11, 2117, doi:10.3390/land11122117.
Sanogo, N.D.M.; Dayamba, S.D.; Renaud, F.G.; Feurer, M. From Wooded Savannah to Farmland and Settlement: Population Growth, Drought, Energy Needs and Cotton Price Incentives Driving Changes in Wacoro, Mali. Land 2022, 11, 2117, doi:10.3390/land11122117.
Sanogo, N.D.M.; Dayamba, S.D.; Renaud, F.G.; Feurer, M. From Wooded Savannah to Farmland and Settlement: Population Growth, Drought, Energy Needs and Cotton Price Incentives Driving Changes in Wacoro, Mali. Land 2022, 11, 2117, doi:10.3390/land11122117.
Sanogo, N.D.M.; Dayamba, S.D.; Renaud, F.G.; Feurer, M. From Wooded Savannah to Farmland and Settlement: Population Growth, Drought, Energy Needs and Cotton Price Incentives Driving Changes in Wacoro, Mali. Land 2022, 11, 2117, doi:10.3390/land11122117.
Abstract
Land includes vegetation and water bodies and provides the basis for human livelihoods through primary production, the supply of food, freshwater, and multiple other ecosystem goods and services. The last three decades have recorded frequent drought events as well as rapid population growth, which has resulted in often negative land use and land cover change (LULCC) in the Sahel of Sub-Saharan Africa. In order to propose sustainable land management strategies, it is important to investigate the rate of LULCC and its driving factors in specific locations. This study investigated the case of Wocoro municipality in Mali using a combined approach of remote sensing, Geographical Information System, and focus group discussions. Satellite images and local people's perceptions on LULCC and drivers were collected and analyzed for the years 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020. We found that the study area faced a severe decrease in wooded savannah with an increase in farmland and settlement directly or indirectly related to the rapid population growth, high cotton price (which encouraged cropland expansion), drought, firewood extraction, and charcoal production, which was exacerbated by poverty. There is a need to promote integrated land management strategies that consider current and future livelihoods needs and preserve the health of the environment for the benefits of future generations.
Keywords
land use; land cover; drivers; change; Sahel
Subject
Social Sciences, Geography, Planning and Development
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.