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Land use dynamics and driving forces in Farta District Northwest Ethiopia

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Abstract

This research was conducted in the northwest Ethiopia to investigate the land use/cover dynamics and its driving forces. ArcGIS and ERDAS Imagine software’s were used for spatial analysis, land use classification and change detection. The field experiment was designed in three treatments (land use types) with four replications. The treatments were; (i) Eucalyptus globulus plantation land use, (ii) crop based land use, and (iii) grazing based land use. Plantation land use showed extensive expansion for the last three decades, due to its higher economic return compared with other land uses. The net income gained from Eucalyptus globulus land use was a multiple of 1.5 and 13.5 from cultivated and grazing land uses, respectively. Land use productivity was also influenced by agro-ecology as higher Wheat grain yield was obtained from the lower elevation than the higher elevations agro-ecologies. On the contrary, the productivity of plantation land use was high on high elevation than lower elevation agro-ecologies. In general, income and agro-ecology were found to influences land use changes. Hence, Eucalyptus globulus plantation is recommended in the high elevation agro-ecologies and Wheat cultivation in the lower elevation agro-ecologies.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the farmers and development agents of Farta District for their assistance during the field work. We would also extend our thanks to Bahir Dar University, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CAES) in facilitating the research. Comments from anonymous reviewers are highly appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bahir Dar University, P.O. Box 1188, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Mulatie Mekonnen

  2. Bureau of Agriculture, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

    Mesfin Abebaw

  3. Agricultural Economics Department, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

    Nardos Mulatie

  4. Institute of Technology (BIT), Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

    Seffi Gebeyehu

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  1. Mulatie Mekonnen
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Correspondence to Mulatie Mekonnen.

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Mekonnen, M., Abebaw, M., Mulatie, N. et al. Land use dynamics and driving forces in Farta District Northwest Ethiopia. GeoJournal 88, 2031–2044 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-022-10746-w

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