The study focused on contributing to the spatial knowledge of the
impacts of land cover changes on beef cattle production under a
changing climate in rangelands of the Lake Victoria Basin (LVB), so
as to establish a strategy for improving beef cattle production in
the area. We used supervised classification of satellite imagery to
analyze land cover changes between the years 1980–2000 and
2000–2010. Results revealed that for the periods 1980–2000 and
2000–2010, settlements increased by 1% and 8%, and cultivated
area increased by 0.58% and 0.30%, respectively. Riverine
vegetation declined by 0.26% and increased by 0.16%, and
woodlands declined by 6% and 13% respectively. The trend of
beef cattle numbers against rainfall and pasture area (riverine
vegetation and woodland) over the study period 1980–2010
showed a non-significant trend of increasing rainfall in the study
area. In Ilemela District, pasture area and beef cattle numbers
declined by 33% and 4% respectively. In Magu District, beef cattle
numbers increased by 64% and pasture area declined by 84%.
This implies that the effect of urbanization is more severe in
Ilemela than in Magu District. Land use planning, enhancing of
mixed crop-livestock farming systems, intensification of livestock
practices, forage conservation, planting of fodder trees, and
matching of cattle numbers with pasture availability are
recommended. In addition, education is needed on effective cattle
farming as a strategy for improving beef cattle production in the
face of land cover changes due to climate variability in the area
Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH)