MODELLING OF SUITABLE AREAS FOR ESTABLISHING GRAZING RESERVES AND STOCK ROUTES IN ZURU EMIRATE, KEBBI STATE, NIGERIA
MODELLING OF SUITABLE AREAS FOR ESTABLISHING GRAZING RESERVES AND STOCK ROUTES IN ZURU EMIRATE, KEBBI STATE, NIGERIA
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2024-11
Authors
MALEEKS, YA’U ADAMU
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Recent occurrences in Zuru Emirate have revealed that the struggle for common resources (land) is one of the factors that has resulted into violent conflicts in the area between Fulani herders and local crop farmers. With increasing urbanisation and land use and land cover changes, the identification of adequate and suitable grazing areas is becoming crucial to ensuring the survival of pastoral communities. This research used geospatial techniques and multicriteria decision analysis tools to model suitable areas for siting grazing reserves in Zuru Emirate, Kebbi State. The eleven criteria used to conduct the land suitability analysis for the grazing reserve in Zuru Emirate are land use, land cover, slope, temperature, precipitation, elevation, distance from water, distance from road, distance from settlement, soil organic carbon, soil pH, and soil depth. All the criteria were standardised and weighted using the Analytical Hierarchy Process AHP in order to produce a land suitability map for the grazing reserve. To assess the reliability of the land suitability map, zonal statistical analysis was used to calculate the mean Normalized Difference Vegetation Index NDVI value of each land suitability class. The results of the AHP weighted analysis of the criteria revealed that land use was the most influential criterion with a weight of 0.22 (22%), while soil depth and soil pH had the lowest weight of 0.04 (4%). The results of land suitability mapping for grazing reserves indicated that 0.92% of the study area is least suitable, 83.13% is moderately suitable, 16.48% is suitable, and only 0.46% of the study area is most suitable for siting grazing reserves. This may fit into determining the reliability of a suitability map for vegetation or crop areas. It is recommended that consistent monitoring and revisions of the land suitability map be conducted to allow decision-makers to make informed decisions about sustainable land use planning and management.
Description
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA, IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER OF SCIENCE (MSc.) DEGREE IN GEOMATICS DEPARTMENT OF GEOMATICS, FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA