Land Resources Management and Sustainable Agricultural Land use around Bauchi Metropolis, Bauchi State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study analyzed the nature of land use/land cover change around Bauchi metropolis between 1985 to 2015. The study analyzed the pattern of agricultural land, loss of urban growth around Bauchi metropolis and assess the socioeconomic implications of agricultural land conversion to other purposes in the study area. Analysis of land use/land cover change was achieved through the analysis of multi spectral satellite images of 1985, 2000 and 2015 using ArcGIS 9.2 Academic Image Classification Software. A questionnaire was administered to 300 respondents randomly selected to evaluate the socioeconomic implications of agricultural land conversion. The results of the study have shown that there is an unprecedented growth of built up area of 1985 when built up area constituted 11.6% to 2015 when it constituted 83.1% of land use/land cover within the study period. The expansion in built up area translates to loss of agricultural land with a marked decline in land holdings such that the majority of farmers (60.20%) depends on farm lands that are 1-5 ha in 2015 as against 56.8% that were relying on 6-10 ha in 1985 which led to decline in per capita productivity. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that urban farmers should be adequately sensitized and equipped with modern methods and implements to enhance and sustain their productivity in spite of the smaller parcels of land they rely on.