From Wooded Savannah to Farmland and Settlement: Population Growth, Drought, Energy Needs and Cotton Price Incentives Driving Changes in Wacoro, Mali

Nagalé Dit Mahamadou Sanogo, Sidzabda Djibril Dayamba, Fabrice G. Renaud and Melanie Feurer ()
Additional contact information
Nagalé Dit Mahamadou Sanogo: WASCAL Program, University of the Gambia, MDI Road, Serrekunda P.O. Box 3530, The Gambia
Sidzabda Djibril Dayamba: African Forest Forum (AFF), United Nations Avenue, Nairobi P.O. Box 30677-00100, Kenya
Fabrice G. Renaud: School of Interdisciplinary Studies, The University of Glasgow, Dumfries Campus, Rutherford/McCowan Building, Dumfries DG1 4ZL, UK
Melanie Feurer: Chair of Silviculture, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg, Tennenbacherstr. 4, 79098 Freiburg, Germany

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 12, 1-16

Abstract: Land includes vegetation and water bodies and provides the basis for human livelihoods through primary production, food and freshwater supply, and multiple other ecosystem services. The last three decades have recorded frequent drought events as well as rapid population growth, which has often resulted in adverse land use and land cover change (LULCC) in the Sahel of Sub-Saharan Africa. In order to propose sustainable land management strategies, it is a prerequisite to investigate the rate of LULCC and its driving factors in specific locations. This study investigated the case of Wacoro municipality in Mali using a combined approach of remote sensing, Geographic Information Systems, 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 rapid decrease in wooded savannah that was degraded and converted to shrub savannah and later to farmland and settlement. Changes were 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. We suggest promoting integrated land management strategies that consider current and future livelihood needs and preserve the environment for the benefits of future generations. New agricultural policies, such as cotton price incentives, should always be accompanied by an assessment of their potential environmental impacts and design of adequate mitigation measures.

Keywords: land use; land cover; drivers; change; Sahel (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/12/2117/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/12/2117/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:12:p:2117-:d:982732

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().