Browsing by Author "Akello, Sarah"

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    Land Use Change using Geospatial Techniques: The Case of Awoja Watershed in Ngora District in Eastern Uganda
    (Uganda Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 2018) Akello, Sarah; Turyahabwe, Nelson; Okullo, Paul; Agea, Jacob Godfrey
    This study used remote sensing and Geo-graphical Information System (GIS) to assess the status of Awoja watersheds in Ngora district of Eastern Uganda. Landsat ETM Images covering the whole of Ngora district and part of Lake Kyoga of two time periods was carried out in the period April to July 2015. This was acquired using USGS Earth Explorer. The images were processed and enhanced with ERDAS 2014 software to aid information extraction and analysis. Land cover change analysis was performed using ENVI 5.3 software. Supervised classification method with maximum likelihood algorithm was performed to obtain land use/ cover types. Five land use/cover types were identified: open water, wetland, tree cover, agriculture and built up area. The findings indicate a fivefold increase in built up area by 154.27km2 (i.e. 375%) and open water increased by 8.7 km2 (i.e. 55.33%). Wetland, tree cover and agriculture reduced in area by -1.0km2 (i.e. 5.1%), - 48.07 km2 (i.e. 34.46%) and -114.0km2 (i.e. 51.05%), respectively. These changes mainly resulted from deforestation, wetland encroachment, poor attitude and over population. Unless, appropriate watershed restoration strategies are designed through afforestation, law enforcement on culprits, continuous sensitisation of the watershed community on the causes of degradation, the over 1,700,000 individuals whose livelihoods depend on Awoja will continue to suffer the effects of degradation. There is need to advocate for non-consumptive projects as alternative sources of income.
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    Land use/cover change and perceived watershed status in Eastern Uganda
    (African Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 2018) Akello, Sarah; Turyahabwe, Nelson; Okullo, Paul; Agea, Jacob Godfrey
    This study assessed the current status of Awoja in Ngora district of Eastern Uganda. Remote sensing, household survey, In Pac S methodology and focus group discussions were used to acquire data from April to July, 2015. Landsat satellite imageries from 2007 and 2013 were acquired by USGS Earth Explorer to quantify land use/cover changes. Five land use/cover types were identified namely; (1) open water (2) wetland (3) tree cover (4) agriculture and (5) built up area. The findings indicate a fivefold increase in built up area by 154.27Km2 and open water changed by 8.7 Km2 and a reduction in wetland area by -1.0Km2 tree cover by -48.07Km2 and agriculture area by -11.4.0Km2. The survey results indicated deforestation, wetland encroachment, poor attitude and over population as the main reasons for degradation. In Pac S methodology findings showed convergence in the perceived indicator of degraded watershed in terms of water and soil quality; vegetation type and species diversity among the lay people and technocrats. The focus group discussion findings indicated a negative trend in land use/cover change. There is need for a concerted effort to design an appropriate restoration strategy for Awoja.