The Impact of Urban Growth on Agricultural Lands in Zaria

This study assessed the Impact of Urban growth on Agricultural Lands in Zaria and its Environs from 1970-2009 (a period of 40 years). This study was carried out through the use of remote sensing and GIS techniques with survey to determine the spatial expansion of built up areas in Zaria between 1970-2009; to estimate land use changes and determine the underlying factors over the study periods; and to determine the rate of conversion of agricultural land to other uses in Zaria and its environs. Four satellite images of four epochs were obtained from National Remote Center Jos. They are; LandSat Multi-Spectral Spectrometer (MSS) image of 1973, LandSat Thematic Mapper (TM) images of 1990, LandSat Enhance Thematic Mapper (ETM) images of 1999, NigeriaSat-1 image of 2009. The study revealed that while urbanisation growth takes over previous agricultural lands, agricultural lands, in turn, take over shrub lands, wet lands, plantation lands, bare surfaces, and forest lands.