Mzuzu University Digital Repository

The impact of land use and land cover changes on the Nkula dam in the middle shire river catchment, Malawi

Show simple item record

dc.contributor.author Mzuza, Maureen Kapute
dc.contributor.author Zhang, Weiguo
dc.contributor.author Kapute, Fanuel
dc.contributor.author Wei, Xiaodao
dc.date.accessioned 2021-07-15T06:57:44Z
dc.date.available 2021-07-15T06:57:44Z
dc.date.issued 2019
dc.identifier.citation Mzuza, M., Zhang, W., Kapute, F. & Wei, X. (2019). The impact of land use and land cover changes on the Nkula dam in the middle shire river catchment, Malawi. Earth Observation and Geospatial Analyses, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.86452 en_US
dc.identifier.uri http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.86452
dc.identifier.uri 192.168.2.8:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/183
dc.description.abstract Land use and land cover changes over a 26-year period for the middle ShireRiver catchment, Malawi, in southern Africa, were assessed using geographicinformation systems (GIS) and remote sensing techniques. The catchment areaunder study was divided into two sections, western and eastern sides of the ShireRiver. High rate of deforestation averaging 4.3% per annum was observed and morepronounced in the western side of the river. Rapid population growth and increasein gross domestic product (GDP) are identified as the major drivers of deforestationand forest degradation due to clearing of vast fields for agriculture, land expansionfor urban settlement, and cutting down of trees for wood fuel energy. Deforestationin the middle Shire River catchment has resulted into increased soil loss througherosion causing huge accumulation of sediment at the Nkula B Hydroelectric PowerDam downstream and, consequently, causing serious problems with generation ofhydroelectricity. Frequent droughts and floods in the area have drastically affectedcrop production forcing people into cutting down of trees for charcoal as a liveli-hood strategy. Combined techniques such as GIS, remote sensing, and socioeco-nomic factors used in this study could be applied in other places where similarchallenges occur. en_US
dc.language.iso en en_US
dc.publisher Earth Observation and Geospatial Analyses en_US
dc.subject LUCC en_US
dc.subject GIS en_US
dc.subject remote sensing en_US
dc.subject soil en_US
dc.title The impact of land use and land cover changes on the Nkula dam in the middle shire river catchment, Malawi en_US
dc.type Article en_US


Files in this item

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record

Search MzuniDR


Advanced Search

Browse

My Account