An Analysis of Landuse/Landcover Change Distribution in Kuje Area Council Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria

The aim of this paper is to assess landuse/landcover change distribution in Kuje area council Federal Capital Teritory Abuja Nigeria. To achieve this, the landuse/area coverage of the study area over a period of 35 years was identified. Also determined were the rate, nature and direction of urban growth in the study area. The landuse change and its effects during the time period were also determined. To obtain the necessary data for the study, seven hundred and eighty - three (783) respondents constituting about 0.2% of the total population of Kuje Area Council as projected from the census figures of National Population Commission of 2006 to 2010, questionnaire was also administered to 140 professional Urban Planners, Land Administrators and Ward heads. The secondary data were sourced from Institutions and Governmental Organizations relevant to the study. Onscreen digitization of the study area maps was employed in delineating the built-up area, hill, stream, roads, forest land, fadama land and the arable land from the various data sets for the years. Map overlay operation was performed in order to identify and detect landuse classes over the years. The mean change per year (arithmetic mean) in Km2/year and % / year for the periods was calculated. The rate of development (increase or decrease) was ascertained. The study revealed that between 1975 and 1980, the built-up area expanded from 2.6% (47 Km2) to 4.2% (75 Km2) of the total area. The major road networks expanded from 7.3% (131 Km) to 8.8% (159Km). ‘Fadama’ landcover which is the Hausa word for irrigable land, flood plains and low lying areas decreased from 17.7% (319 Km2) to 16.4% (310 Km2). The research therefore concluded that the present innovations in GIS and Remote Sensing technologies make available potent instruments for detecting and mapping of transformations in landuse/land cover.Keywords: Fadama Land, Landuse/Landcover, Arable Land, Degradation, Environment,Vegetation