Proceedings of the 5th Scientific Conference of Rangeland Society of Tanzania (RST)

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Browsing Proceedings of the 5th Scientific Conference of Rangeland Society of Tanzania (RST) by Author "Nzunda, Emmanuel F."

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    GIS application in rangeland management in Tanzania: a systematic review
    (Rangeland Society of Tanzania (RST), 2023) Nzunda, Emmanuel F.; Yusuph, Amri S.
    A good proportion of the aspects of range resource management are amenable to GIS technology because range resource management integrates spatial and non-spatial aspects of data and information for which GIS is best suited. Whether this amenability is exploited was questionable and needed evidence- based research to confirm. The current paper presents the results of a systematic review of the application of GIS in rangeland management in Tanzania. The specific objectives of the study were: (1) to assess the distribution of the publications by year of publication; (2) to examine the distribution of the publications by subject area; (3) to analyse the relationships among key words used in titles and abstracts of the publications; (4) to describe details of a sample of selected publications, and; (5) to evaluation the distribution of publications by institution of the authorship. The study used the PRISMA method in searching, selecting and analysing the publications. Records were retrieved from Google scholar, Scopus, and science direct. We included 80 English language studies done in Tanzania for the first four specific objectives and 136 for the fifth specific objective. There is an increasing trend of application of GIS from 1 study in 1993 and years close by to 11 publications in 2021. About 34%, 31%, 27% and 8% of the publications applied GIS respectively in environmental science, earth and planetary sciences, agricultural and biological sciences and social sciences. The words μchange¶, μaUea¶ and μTan]ania¶ ZeUe Whe moVW fUeqXenWl\ XVed in WiWleV and abstracts. Furthermore, words in titles and abstracts formed about five clusters representing study area (e.g. Tanzania), method of analysis (e.g. remote sensing, assessment, data), topic of study (e.g. change, land use, land, conservation) and land use (e.g. grassland, woodland, forest). Most words clustered close WogeWheU foUming a meVhZoUk bXW Whe ZoUd μconflicW¶ ZaV Whe moVW distant from the rest of the meshwork. GIS data sets used included land use land use/cover (LULC) layer, landscape features (e.g. rivers, roads, topographic variables) and socioeconomic data. Most publications came from Sokoine University of Agriculture, University of Dar es Salaam and Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology while the fewest came from Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Hohenheim University and the University of British Columbia respectively. It is concluded that GIS is increasingly being applied to rangeland management. However, social sciences apply GIS the least. Tanzanian institutions lead in application of GIS technology, which means it is no longer foreign expertise. It is recommended that all fields apply GIS wherever appropriate. In particular, why GIS is least applied in social sciences aspects of rangeland management needs further investigation.
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    Grassland loss in Tanzania: causes, consequences and control
    (Rangeland Society of Tanzania (RST), 2023) Nzunda, Emmanuel F.
    Grasslands are an important component of rangelands. The work presented in this paper is based on spatial statistical analysis of grassland change between 1995 and 2010 using land use and land cover maps covering the whole of mainland Tanzania and GIS techniques. Further arguments for discussion in the paper are sourced from literature review. Results show that grasslands are lost at an alarming rate of almost 1 million hectares annually. Between 1995 and 2010 Tanzania lost more than 14 million hectares of grassland. Main direct causes of grassland loss are conversion to cultivation and to forest cover, almost at an equal rate of more than 6 million hectares over the 15year period (about 400,000 ha annually). Bush encroachment is also an important direct driver of grassland loss. Indirect causes of grassland loss include population growth, economic growth, challenges in grassland governance and management and globalization. Consequences of grassland loss include reduced areas for grazing, increased soil erosion, floods, increased land use conflicts and their repercussions including loss of property and life. Control measures include those addressing the direct and indirect drivers of change. However, most of the control measures are ineffective and hence the observed trend of 35 grassland loss is increasing with time. The paper concludes by suggesting some topics for further research into ways to improve the effectiveness of the control measures against grassland loss in terms of potential and possibility of more agricultural intensification, improvements of markets and profits to cultivators, nature of grassland loss to forest cover, ways to apply existing extensive research on bush encroachment and, the role of formal and informal institutions that control grassland loss.