Urbanization and Arable Land Use in Northern Ghana: A Case Study of the Sagnarigu Municipality in the Greater Tamale Area

Abstract

We analyzed the effects of urbanization on the use of arable land in the Sagnarigu municipality in Greater Tamale Area of Ghana. The study involved a random survey of 300 farming households to establish their land-use patterns and valuation, and an analysis of satellite and remote sensing data for the years, 2000, 2010 and 2020 for land-use related land cover changes in the area. Out of 300 responding household heads, 88.3% were usufruct landowners; the remaining 11.7% were tenants. The hedonic pricing method was used to analyse arable land values. The value of arable land was negatively influenced by the distance to the nearest main road, district capital town, and Tamale Central Business District, and positively influenced by its closeness to State institutions. Urbanization, proxied by the population of the community where the land was located, positively influenced the value of the land. Based on the analysis of geographic information system data, we established that the built-up area in the district increased from 13.0 km2 in 2000 to 97.5 km2 in 2020, an increase of 650%. Built-up area accounted for 48.7% of the total land available in the district in 2020.

Use of Birth Control Products and Contraceptives by Adult Males: A Case Study of the Amasaman Area Council, Accra, Ghana

“…While Ghana has achieved relatively high growth rate of about five percent per year as indicated by the annual change in the gross domestic product (GDP), over the three decades of constitutional governance [8], the country is bedeviled with serious environmental-related problems which are directly linked to rapid growth of the human population [9]. These problems include extensive destruction of water bodies through illegal mining activities, rapid deforestation, among the highest in the world, and poor environmental sanitation.…”

“…These problems include extensive destruction of water bodies through illegal mining activities, rapid deforestation, among the highest in the world, and poor environmental sanitation. Another worrisome social issue is the rapidly growing national income inequality, considered to be one of the fastest growing in Africa over the last three decades [9,10].…”

Review of Applications of Remote Sensing towards Sustainable Agriculture in the Northern Savannah Regions of Ghana

“…The study finds a loss of crop and pasturelands to the built environment. Abubakari et al [99] also used Landsat TM 200 imagery, ETM+ 2010 imagery, and Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS imagery for 2020 to assess the effects of urbanization on arable lands in the Sagnarigu Municipality near Tamale in Ghana. The study finds that the built-up area in the municipality increased from 13.0 km 2 in 2000 to 97.5 km 2 in 2020.…”

Spatial Dynamics and Determinants of Population Urbanization in the Upper Reaches of the Yellow River

“…Therefore, research on the spatial differences in population urbanization level is of great importance to the study of both the mechanism of interaction between urbanization and economic development and the process of urbanization. Much recent research in this field has been conducted from the perspective of evaluation of the quality of the population growth [4,5], spatial pattern [13,14], driving factors [15][16][17], impact of urbanization [18,19], sustainable development [20][21][22], role in regional development [23,24], and presumptive role in education or climate [25,26]. Especially in China, the level of attention on population urbanization increased recently [25], and most studies have focused on the economically developed areas nationally or in the east at the national, provincial, or other large regional scales [27], while research on population urbanization of undeveloped areas such as the upper reaches of the Yellow River remains inadequate [28].…”