Land Use Dynamics in the Department of Séguéla, Northwestern Côte D’Ivoire

Abstract

Land use monitoring occupies a very important place in the analysis of the dynamics of the earth system. It helps to understand the organization and helps to provide relevant elements for the establishment of diagnoses and the development of environmental forecasts. The objective of this study is to follow the evolution of the agricultural landscape in the department of Séguéla from 1988 to 2020 and to make a prediction for 2050, in order to manage the spaces reasonably. The methodology adopted is based on the one hand on the processing of satellite images for the analysis of land cover and on the other hand on predictive modeling (LCM model) by 2050. The results obtained show that the land use maps produced after processing the satellite images made it possible to highlight the dynamics of the agricultural landscape in this part of the Worodougou region. During the period 1988 to 2020, we witness an increase in the area of cultivated territory as well as a slight reduction in wooded savannas which are largely made up of perennial crops (cashew trees, cocoa trees, coffee trees, etc.). These two aforementioned classes have respective annual rates of change of 2.42% and −0.44%. A scenario modeling land cover changes in 2050 with an overall accuracy of 80.35% revealed a continued growth of crops and fallows to the detriment of natural forests and wooded savannas.