12/10/20

In Portfolio 4, a logarithmic relationship between distance from settlements and percent tree cover was identified at 50 sites in Malawi at distances 0.3, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 5.0, and 10 kilometers. Although tree distribution around settlements vary by site, the trend of low tree cover near settlements, increasing with distance from the settlements was apparent (Figure 1).

The primary land uses responsible for low tree cover around settlements in Malawi are agricultural expansion, particularly growing maize and tobacco, and fuelwood demand, used for tobacco-curing, burning clay bricks for construction, and charcoal production (Munthali et al. 2019, Ngwira & Watanabe 2019). This pressure on land and wood availability can be attributed to population growth, poverty, expensive alternative building materials to clay, lack of awareness about forest conservation and management, lack of resources, lack of commitment from tobacco companies, and the market system of the cash crops grown in the area (Ngwira & Watanabe 2019).

Overall patterns of land cover change

A few notable studies have analyzed land cover change using remote sensing. The first found that in Malawi as a whole, between 1999 and 2018, grassland, settlement, and woodland transitions accounted for a 9.6% expansion of agriculture, and plantation, grassland, and agriculture transitions accounted for an 8.4% loss of woodland (Gondwe et al. 2019). The second study found that between 1994 and 2018 in Blantyre City of southern Malawi, built-up land increased while bare soil and vegetated features decreased (Mawenda & Watanabe 2020). The authors attributed this to urban expansion, where development starts on bare land and expands to surrounding vegetated areas (Mawenda & Watanabe 2020). The third study, focusing on the Dedza district in central Malawi, found that between 1991 and 2015, built-up areas and barren land increased while forest land, waterbodies, wetlands, and agricultural land decreased (Munthali et al. 2019). Although this finding at first appears unexpected given agricultural expansion, the researchers reference pockets of agricultural expansion despite the overall decrease (Munthali et al. 2019). Population increase, loss in soil fertility, and rain-fed agricultural practices, a method requiring more land than others, add pressure to agricultural expansion (Munthali et al. 2019). Another study agreed that increased population density leads to more deforestation due to increased pressure on cleared land for agriculture and development, as well as increased demand for fuel harvest and charcoal production (Bone et al. 2016, Munthali et al. 2019).

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Agriculture

A study in Mwazisi of northern Malawi found that 80.7% of households practiced agriculture, with 46.4% of households having expanded their maize farm in the last 15 years (Ngwira & Watanabe 2019). All households grew maize as a staple food, and its expansion was mostly due to an increase in family size and a lack of farm inputs (Ngwira & Watanabe 2019). Ground nuts and soybeans are also grown for food (Ngwira & Watanabe 2019).

Despite low tree cover near settlements, there still exist trees near settlements and agricultural land (Figure 2). This may be purposeful, as a study found that many farmers use trees to shade crops and or use fruit trees to diversify their production for greater economic security (Dewees 1995).

Tobacco

Tobacco has expanded to 45.4% of households in the Mwazisi study area as an important cash crop due to government encouragement, low investment and necessary expertise, and increased access to markets via tobacco companies (Ngwira & Watanabe 2019). After household use, tobacco is the second-highest use of wood, as it is used to produce both air-cured and fuel-wood tobacco, providing materials to build barns and firewood for curing, respectively (Ngwira & Watanabe 2019). Tobacco activity is highest in the northern and central regions of Malawi due to “population pressures, weather patterns, and the availability of other commercial crops” (no specifics were presented) in the southern region (Figure 3; Fraym 2019, p. 11).

Fuelwood, charcoal, & selling forest products

Firewood contributes to 81% of cooking fuel, 90% of which comes from rural areas (Mawenda & Watanabe 2020). Approximately 22% of interviewees used charcoal stoves for cooking, requiring charcoal production from wood (Munthali et al. 2019). Reliance on fuelwood and charcoal is due to high levels of poverty levels and low access to electricity and other sources of energy (Munthali et al. 2019). A tradeoff has been identified between time collecting fuel and expenditures; namely, that proximity to woody savannah or degraded forest leads households to buy fuelwood, but proximity to forest regeneration leads households to collect fuelwood by decreasing the necessary time spent collecting (Jagger & Perez-Heydrich 2016). Another study supports this idea, finding that forest access led to a higher income among rural households via fuelwood (Kamanga et al. 2009). This makes sense as the harvesting and selling of forest products such as poles, timber, firewood, and charcoal contribute to many households’ income (Munthali et al. 2019).

Poverty

An estimated 86% of households in Mwazisi live below the poverty line (Ngwira & Watanabe 2019). A study linked rural deforestation with poverty but suggested that if settlements were to become richer, it may be possible that communities are then able to regrow their forests for future harvests, offering a more sustainable wood supply (Rudel et al. 2016).

Conclusion

Thus, agricultural expansion and fuelwood demand account for low tree cover near settlements and its logarithmic increase with distance. Given households are most likely to farm and collect wood near their homes and deforestation is primarily driven by small-scale operations, it makes sense that tree cover is low near settlements but increases with distance and thus inconvenience*.

Sources

Bone, R.A., K.E. Parks, M.D. Hudson, M. Tsirinzeni, & S. Willcock. 2017. Deforestation since independence: a quantitative assessment of four decades of land-cover change in Malawi. Southern Forests: a Journal of Forest Science 79(4):269-275. https://doi.org/10.2989/20702620.2016.1233777

Dewees, P.A. 1995. Trees on farms in Malawi: private investment, public policy, and farmer choice. World Development 23(7):1985-1102. https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-750X(95)00034-A

Fraym. “Insights into the current tobacco farming landscape in Malawi.” January 2019. Digital Report. https://fraym.io/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Fraym-Report_Foundation-for-a-Smoke-Free-World-compressed.pdf

Gondwe, M.F., M.A. Cho, P.W. Chirwa, & C.J. Geldenhuys. 2019. Land use land cover change and the comparative impact of co-management and government-management on the forest cover in Malawi (1999-2018). Journal of Land Use Science 14(4-6):281-305.  https://doi.org/10.1080/1747423X.2019.1706654

Jagger, P. & C. Perez-Heydrich. 2016. Land use and household energy dynamics in Malawi. Environmental Research Letters 11(12). https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/11/12/125004

Kamanga, P., P. Vedeld, and E. Sjaastad. 2009. Forest incomes and rural livelihoods in Chiradzulu District, Malawi. Ecological Economies, 68(3): 613-624.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2008.08.018

Mawenda, J. & T. Watanabe. 2020. An analysis of urban land use/land cover changes in Blantyre City, Southern Malawi (1994-2018). Sustainability 12(6):2377. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12062377

Mayaux, P., J. Pekel, B. Desclée, F. Donnay, A. Lupi, F. Achard, M. Clerici, C. Bodart, A. Brink, R. Nasi, & A. Belward. 2013. State and evolution of the African rainforests between 1990 and 2010. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 368(1625). https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2012.0300

Munthali, C.K., V. Kasulo, & S. Matamula. 2016. Smallholder farmers perception on climate change in Rumphi District, Malawi. Journal of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development 8(10):202-120. https://doi.org/10.5897/JAERD2016.0798

Munthali, M, O. Botai, N. Davis, & A. Abiodun. 2019. Multi-temporal analysis of land use and land cover change detection for Dedza district of Malawi using geospatial techniques. International Journal of Applied Engineering Research 14:1151-1162. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331979696_Multi-temporal_Analysis_of_Land_Use_and_Land_Cover_Change_Detection_for_Dedza_District_of_Malawi_using_Geospatial_Techniques

Ngwira, S. & T. Watanabe. 2019. An analysis of the causes of deforestation in Malawi: a case of Mwazisi. Land, MDPI, Open Access Journal 8(3):1-15. https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/8/3/48/pdf

Rudel, T., S. Sloand, R. Chazdon, and R. Grau. 2016. The drivers of tree cover expansion: global, temperate, and tropical zone analysis. Land Use Policy 58:502-513. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.08.024

Written with the help of fellow students who shared and interpreted sources:

Adam Blachly*
Emma Brown
Maja Cannavo
Emma Clinton
Warren Galloway
Courtney Gantt
Haley Goodman
Marilia Muschett
James Peacock