LUCID’s Land Use Change Analysis as an Approach for Investigating Biodiversity Loss and Land Degradation Project Multi-Scale Analysis of Land Use and Management Change on the Eastern Slopes of Mt. Kenya LUCID Project Wo rking Paper 20 By Jennifer M. Olson with assistance of Bilal Butt, Fred Atieno, Joseph M. Maitima, Thomas A. Smucker, Eric Muchugu, George Murimi and Hong Xu Department of Geography Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 48824 USA March 2004 Address Correspondence to: LUCID Project International Livestock Research Institute P.O. Box 30709 Nairobi, Kenya E-mail: [email protected] Tel. +254-20-630743 Fax. +254-20-631481/ 631499 Multi-Scale Analysis of Land Use and Management Change on the Eastern Slopes of Mt. Kenya The Land Use Change, Impacts and Dynamics Project Working Paper Number 20 By Jennifer M. Olson with assistance of Bilal Butt, Fred Atieno, Joseph M. Maitima, Thomas A. Smucker, Eric Muchugu, George Murimi and Hong Xu Department of Geography Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 48824 USA March 2004 Address Correspondence to: LUCID Project International Livestock Research Institute P.O. Box 30709 Nairobi, Kenya E-mail: [email protected] Tel. +254-20-630743 Fax. +254-20-631481/ 631499 Copyright © 2004 by the: Michigan State University Board of Trustees, International Livestock Research Institute, and United Nations Environment Programme/Division of Global Environment Facility Coordination. All rights reserved. Reproduction of LUCID Working Papers for non-commercial purposes is encouraged. Working papers may be quoted or reproduced free of charge provided the source is acknowledged and cited. Cite working paper as follows: Author. Year. Title. Land Use Change Impacts and Dynamics (LUCID) Project Working Paper #. Nairobi, Kenya: International Livestock Research Institute. Working papers are available on www.lucideastafrica.org or by emailing [email protected]. LUCID Working Paper 20 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................1 II. METHODOLOGY...........................................................................................................1 A. Site selection ................................................................................................................1 B. Land use change analysis .............................................................................................3 1. Data acquisition and interpretation ...........................................................................3 2. Land use and land cover classification .....................................................................5 C. Household and field level surveys ...............................................................................5 D. Catchment field maps...................................................................................................6 E. Group and key informant interviews............................................................................6 III. LAND USE AND MANAGEMENT PATTERNS AND PROCESSES ........................8 A. High elevation agriculture in Embu .............................................................................8 B. Low elevation, semi-arid Mbeere ..............................................................................15 C. Income diversification and out-migration ..................................................................21 D. Effects of household composition and poverty on land use and management ..........24 1. Widows ...................................................................................................................24 2. The traditional group: husband present and working on own farm ........................24 3. Female headed with husband working/ living away...............................................25 4. Husbands present but work off-farm ......................................................................26 5. Summary of factors affecting soil maintenance and fertility ..................................27 E. Land and soil management variation across agroecological zones ............................29 F. Regional land use and cover change ..........................................................................33 1. Large scale private land holders .............................................................................34 2. The Government of Kenya......................................................................................37 3. Small scale farmers and herders..............................................................................38 IV. CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................41 V. BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................... 45 Annex 1. Land use and land cover classes for the Mt. Kenya region.....................................47 Annex 2. Identification of land cover and land use classes. ...................................................48 Annex 3. Population Table of Embu and Mbeere Districts 1969 to 1999 ..............................50 LUCID Working Paper 20 iii MAPS 1. Study areas and transect location in Embu and Mbeere Districts, Kenya ...........................2 2. The eastern slopes of Mt. Kenya (2001 ETM+ draped over DEM) ...................................7 3. Land use change in northern Embu District from 1958 to 2001........................................10 4. Ndunduri and Kianjuki catchment maps and land use pies ...............................................12 5. Land use change between 1961 and 2001 in the Kiritiri area of Mbeere District ..................16 6. Kambita and Ivondo catchment maps and land use pies....................................................19 7. Land cover in 1987 and 2001 of the eastern slopes of Mt. Kenya.....................................35 8. Land use in 1987 and 2001 of the eastern slopes of Mt. Kenya ........................................36 9. Areas of significant land cover change on the eastern slopes of Mt. Kenya .....................37 TABLES 1. Climate in the agroecological zones of Embu ......................................................................8 2. Land use change statistics, northern Embu site ..................................................................11 3. Climate in the agroecological zones of Mbeere..................................................................15 4. Land use change statistics, Kiritiri area, Mbeere District ...................................................17 5. Changes in soil fertility and percent fields with inputs.......................................................31 6. Land cover change statistics, eastern slopes of Mt. Kenya.................................................33 7. Population of Embu and Mbeere Districts from 1969 to 1999 ...........................................40 8. Pattern of land use and economic change in lower, semi-arid zones..................................42 9. Major driving forces of land use change.............................................................................43 FIGURES 1. Percent of husbands and adult sons conducting non- and off-farm work by farm size................................................................................................................22 2. Percent of husbands and adult sons conducting non- and off-farm work by agroecological zone ..............................................................................................23 3. Factors affecting soil maintenance and change in soil fertility. .........................................27 4. Household agricultural wealth affecting soil fertility and manure application...................28 5. Percent of fields where inputs were applied the previous season .......................................30 6. Bar graph of land cover changes between 1987 and 2001..................................................34 7. Population growth of Embu and Mbeere from 1969 to 1999 .............................................40 LUCID Working Paper 20 iv I. INTRODUCTION 1 Mt. Kenya, the second highest mountain in Africa, is the spiritual home of many Kenyans. It is located in the centre of the country, only a few hours from the capital city Nairobi, and has played a central role in Kenya’s history, economy and culture. It also provides a unique view of the ecology of Kenya and East Africa because it spans an altitudinal and land use gradient from the glaciers at the peak, to bamboo and tropical montane forests, to farms of tea, coffee and maize and finally to the semi-arid savannah. Population densities range from over 700 people/km2 in the higher elevation zones to 20 people/ km2 in the lower zones, only 100 kilometres apart. This diversity of ecologies and landscapes, combined with rapid economic and social change, has led to land use and cover change that vividly reflects evolving social and environmental patterns and processes. The purpose of this study was to identify the spatial patterns and driving forces of changes in land use and land management practices since the 1950’s on the eastern slopes of Mt. Kenya, especially in the human managed landscapes. A multi-scale, historical approach was adopted to determine the impact of economic, political, social and demographic forces on the agricultural systems. A variety of research methods were employed including interpretation of aerial photographs and satellite images,