Resettlement, spatiotemporal dynamics of land use/cover and livelihood aspects in Chewaka district, southwestern Ethiopia

Ethiopia has a long tradition of resettling people from drought-prone and degraded areas to sparsely populated parts of the country. This study aimed to investigate resettlement, spatiotemporal dynamics of land use/cover and livelihood aspects in Chewaka district of Ethiopia. A combination of geospatial and socioeconomic data were utilized to attain the intended objectives. Through multistage sampling procedure, 384 households were selected from sample kebeles for household survey. Descriptive and inferential statistics along with multinomial logit model have been employed to analyze the data. The study found that resettlement has resulted in the spatiotemporal dynamics of land use/cover in Chewaka district. Rapid population growth following resettlement program, encroachment of farmland and settlement to vegetated areas, deforestation, human-induced forest fire, illegal settlement expansion, lack of land use plan, and poor management practices are driving unprecedented land use/cover change. It was also found that agriculture is the main economic activity and basis of livelihoods in the study area. Besides, resettlers pursue non/off-farm activities to generate additional income and cope with the challenges of their livelihoods. The study suggests urgent attention on improving infrastructure and social services, environment conservation, controlling illegal settlement expansions and human-induced forest fire as well as supporting resettlers to diversify their income sources for betterment of livelihoods in the area.