Vegetation Changes in the Miombo Woodlands in Northwestern Zimbabwe: A Case Study of Nkayi District 1990 to 2017

Abstract

The research applied Geographic Information Systems (GISs) and remote sensing tools in quantifying land cover changes in Nkayi District and assess the drivers for such changes. This was done to link the impacts of anthropogenic activities to change in the physical environment especially looking at ecosystem goods and services, which in turn reduce their productivity. Satellite images were analyzed for 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2017 in order to produce temporal land cover maps for Nkayi District and use them as tools for estimating the rates and the extent to which land cover has changed from 1990 to 2017. Four main land cover types were identified, namely woodland, deforested land, cultivated land, and water bodies. In 1990, woodland covered 58% of the total land area in Nkayi District, while deforested land, cultivated land, and water bodies covered 31, 11, and 0.2%, respectively. From 1990 to 2017, woodland declined to 47% in 2017, while deforested land and cultivated land increased to 14.9 and 36%, respectively. The major drivers of land cover changes were increase in household numbers, which were associated with woodland clearing for agriculture. The other drivers of land cover changes were soil infertility and overgrazing by livestock. The research was crucial in detecting the problems of forage shortages and poor rangeland conditions, mainly caused by expanding fields coupled with infertile Kalahari sands. The research highlighted the urgent need to manage the fragile miombo woodlands, which are being threatened by the increased demand for land for human settlements and cultivation. Alternatively, the research also highlights the need for farmers to produce more biomass in their fields in the form of high-value crop residues to cater for the loss of rangelands.

An assessment of rodent‐flea diversity and association in a semi‐arid tropical ecosystem of south‐western Zimbabwe

“…Human‐induced disturbances such as mining activities, uncontrolled fires, rodent harvesting for bushmeat by local people, vegetation cover disturbances and proximity to protected areas have been reported to influence population densities of rodents and diversities in other studies (Fiedler, 1990; Massawe et al, 2008, Sibanda et al, 2014; Chirima et al, 2018) and thus may warrant future investigation in the study area to ascertain their impact on the rodents population dynamics and diversity.…”

Poverty Alleviation Strategies for Sivomo Villagers in Nkayi District, Zimbabwe

“…For example, in previous work (Zikhali, 2017(Zikhali, , 2022Zikhali et al, 2014), I have attended to the various approaches deployed to offset socio-economic pressures in both formal and informal, individual, and institutional settings. As outlined in these and other studies, Nkayi lies in an agro-ecological region that is characterised by average-topoor rainfall, weak soils for agricultural production of major crops, and land deployed for other forms of income generation such as wildlife conservation (Chirima et al, 2018;Khumalo, 2021;Mavhura et al, 2015). These conditions demand strategizing in the de Certeauian sense.…”

“…Natural resources in the district have been depleted (Kwashirai & Mhike, 2019), creating a need for urgent environmental approaches Chirima et al (2018), which redress the emerging environmental problem. Such interventions form part of the basis of this research as community agency and institutional involvement constitutes the broad mix of strategies employed.…”

Assessing Trends in Tree Cover, Wildfire and Population Growth in Zimbabwe since 2000

“…Through the FTLRP, the government sought to acquire ¾ of the existing 16 million ha of large-scale, commercial farms and re-distribute among more than 150,000 farmers [2,12]. There were two dominant models: the A1 model allocated small plots to landless and poor farmers for growing crops and grazing land (average 5 ha in size) and the A2 model based on self-contained farming units (average size of 318 ha per farmer) for new commercial farmers who had the skills and resources to farm profitably, thereby increasing agricultural productivity [13]. Other land tenure classes include communally owned land and state land.…”