| dc.description.abstract | Tobacco has existed in historic days and is now widely grown as a cash crop in developing countries like Uganda. Tobacco farming contributes to environmental degradation. Tobacco farming practices also pose a challenge for environmental sustainability due to increased deforestation, and over-application of agrochemicals. However, detailed historical information describing the extent and possible drivers of such change is widely lacking. The main objective of this study was to assess the effects of tobacco farming on the forest cover in Midia Sub County, Koboko District by examining the different tobacco farming processes that affect forest cover in Midia Sub County, the level of forest destruction as a result of tobacco farming in Midia Sub County in the years of 2000, 2010 and 2020 and assessing the management strategies that have been adopted to mitigate forest destruction in Midia Sub County. A total of 60 tobacco and non-tobacco farming households were sampled for this study. Key informant interviews were also conducted targeting the local leadership, focal persons in Midia Sub County. Landsat images of 2000, 2010 and 2020 were obtained from USGSS. The images were then subjected to supervised classification of four classes (Forest, agriculture, Settlement, Grassland) and then segmented into vector data using IMPACT toolbox. The vector data was then analyzed using (ArcMap 10.5.1, Microsoft Excel 2016 and SPSS Version 20) so as to come up with a detailed land use cover change. The results revealed that there was a decrease in areas covered by forests and a net gain in areas covered by agriculture, settlements and grasslands for the years 2000-2010 and 2010-2020. From 2000 to 2010, there was a loss in area covered by forest by 4.6% square kilometers. From 2010 to 2020, the trend was still a decrease in forest cover, settlements and a gain in areas under other land uses. Area under forest cover continued to decrease by 11.5% square kilometers, while area covered by agriculture (tobacco growing) increased significantly by 34% square kilometers and areas covered by grasslands increased by 0.5% square kilometers. For the 20 years period from 2000 to 2020, forest cover decreased significantly by 16% square kilometers, The quality of soil on tobacco farms has depreciated over time due to soil erosion which is attributed to deforestation. Since forests/ woodlands continue to be converted to other land-uses and while socio-economic disparities keep increasing, there is a need for continuous monitoring of forest and the surrounding areas. The forested areas should be mapped and buffer zones created to help create boundary and thus preventing people from cutting trees in the forest | en_US |
