Spatio-temporal dynamics of land use on the expansion of coffee agroforestry systems in Cameroon’s production basins

摘要

Diachronic analysis of satellite images was used to assess the spatiotemporal dynamics of land use and land cover change in the coffee production basins of Cameroon, located in the forest agroecological zones (Moungo and Haut-Nyong) and the highland humid savannah (Noun). A survey of farmers was carried out to identify land use and changes in the area of coffee agroforests over time. While the period 1980 to 2001 was marked by an increase in the area of the forest/agroforest land-use unit, the period 2001 to 2019 shows significant regressions ranging from 14 to 22% of the total area of each basin. Significant changes in the land use units have repercussions on the areas dedicated to coffee growing, which have decreased significantly; today, the largest areas under cultivation are in Haut-Nyong (1.51±1.27 ha), the medium areas in Moungo (1.14±1.13 ha) and the smallest in Noun (0.67±0.72 ha). Coffee abandonment coupled with anthropogenic factors such as agriculture and housing expansion are mainly responsible for the degradation of coffee agroforests, with notable repercussions on land cover changes. The cocoa-coffee revival encouraged by sectoral Ministries in recent years seems to have encouraged cocoa production, since in agro-ecological regions; the increase in forest/agroforest area is mainly attributable to Theobroma cacao and Elaies guineensis.