IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v9y2017i10p1728-d113268.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Drought Dynamics and Vegetation Productivity in Different Land Management Systems of Eastern Cape, South Africa—A Remote Sensing Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Valerie Graw

    (Center for Remote Sensing of Land Surfaces, University of Bonn, Walter-Flex-Straße 3, 53113 Bonn, Germany)

  • Gohar Ghazaryan

    (Center for Remote Sensing of Land Surfaces, University of Bonn, Walter-Flex-Straße 3, 53113 Bonn, Germany
    Remote Sensing Research Group, University of Bonn. Meckenheimer Allee 166, 53115 Bonn, Germany)

  • Karen Dall

    (Institute for Environment and Human Security, United Nations University, Platz der Vereinten Nationen 1, 53113 Bonn, Germany)

  • Andoni Delgado Gómez

    (Center for Remote Sensing of Land Surfaces, University of Bonn, Walter-Flex-Straße 3, 53113 Bonn, Germany)

  • Ayman Abdel-Hamid

    (Center for Remote Sensing of Land Surfaces, University of Bonn, Walter-Flex-Straße 3, 53113 Bonn, Germany)

  • Andries Jordaan

    (Disaster Management Training and Education Centre for Africa, University of the Free State, PO Box 339, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa)

  • Ruben Piroska

    (Center for Remote Sensing of Land Surfaces, University of Bonn, Walter-Flex-Straße 3, 53113 Bonn, Germany)

  • Joachim Post

    (United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER), Platz der Vereinten Nationen 1, 53113 Bonn, Germany)

  • Jörg Szarzynski

    (Institute for Environment and Human Security, United Nations University, Platz der Vereinten Nationen 1, 53113 Bonn, Germany)

  • Yvonne Walz

    (Institute for Environment and Human Security, United Nations University, Platz der Vereinten Nationen 1, 53113 Bonn, Germany)

  • Olena Dubovyk

    (Center for Remote Sensing of Land Surfaces, University of Bonn, Walter-Flex-Straße 3, 53113 Bonn, Germany
    Remote Sensing Research Group, University of Bonn. Meckenheimer Allee 166, 53115 Bonn, Germany)

Abstract

Eastern Cape Province in South Africa has experienced extreme drought events during the last decade. In South Africa, different land management systems exist belonging to two different land tenure classes: commercial large scale farming and communal small-scale subsistence farming. Communal lands are often reported to be affected by land degradation and drought events among others considered as trigger for this process. Against this background, we analyzed vegetation response to drought in different land management and land tenure systems through assessing vegetation productivity trends and monitoring the intensity, frequency and distribution of the drought hazard in grasslands and communal and commercial croplands during drought and non-drought conditions. For the observation period 2000–2016, we used time series of 250 m Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) based on the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) and Climate Hazard Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS) precipitation data with 5 km resolution. For the assessment of vegetation dynamics, we: (1) analyzed vegetation productivity in Eastern Cape over the last 16 years with EVI; (2) analyzed the impact of drought events on vegetation productivity in grasslands as well as commercial and communal croplands; and (3) compared precipitation-vegetation dynamics between the drought season 2015/2016 and the non-drought season 2011/2012. Change in total annual vegetation productivity could detect drought years while drought dynamics during the season could be rather monitored by the VCI. Correlation of vegetation condition and precipitation indicated areas experiencing significant vegetation productivity trends showing low and even negative correlation coefficients indicating other drivers for productivity change and drought impact besides rainfall.

Suggested Citation

  • Valerie Graw & Gohar Ghazaryan & Karen Dall & Andoni Delgado Gómez & Ayman Abdel-Hamid & Andries Jordaan & Ruben Piroska & Joachim Post & Jörg Szarzynski & Yvonne Walz & Olena Dubovyk, 2017. "Drought Dynamics and Vegetation Productivity in Different Land Management Systems of Eastern Cape, South Africa—A Remote Sensing Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-19, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:10:p:1728-:d:113268
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/10/1728/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/10/1728/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nkonya, Ephraim M. & Gerber, Nicolas & Baumgartner, Philipp & von Braun, Joachim & De Pinto, Alessandro & Graw, Valerie & Kato, Edward & Kloos, Julia & Walter, Teresa, 2011. "The Economics of Desertification, Land Degradation, and Drought; Toward an Integrated Global Assessment," Discussion Papers 109326, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    2. J. Malherbe & B. Dieppois & P. Maluleke & M. Staden & D. Pillay, 2016. "South African droughts and decadal variability," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 80(1), pages 657-681, January.
    3. Camilla Toulmin, 1987. "Drought and the Farming Sector: Loss of Farm Animals and Post‐Drought Rehabilitation," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 5(2), pages 125-148, June.
    4. Holden, Stein & Shiferaw, Bekele, 2004. "Land degradation, drought and food security in a less-favoured area in the Ethiopian highlands: a bio-economic model with market imperfections," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 31-49, January.
    5. Graw, Valerie & Oldenburg, Carsten & Dubovyk, Olena, 2016. "Bush Encroachment Mapping for Africa: Multi-scale analysis with remote sensing and GIS," Discussion Papers 241266, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xiaoming Kang & Liang Yan & Lijuan Cui & Xiaodong Zhang & Yanbin Hao & Haidong Wu & Yuan Zhang & Wei Li & Kerou Zhang & Zhongqing Yan & Yong Li & Jinzhi Wang, 2018. "Reduced Carbon Dioxide Sink and Methane Source under Extreme Drought Condition in an Alpine Peatland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-15, November.
    2. Janna Frischen & Isabel Meza & Daniel Rupp & Katharina Wietler & Michael Hagenlocher, 2020. "Drought Risk to Agricultural Systems in Zimbabwe: A Spatial Analysis of Hazard, Exposure, and Vulnerability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-23, January.
    3. Omolola M. Adisa & Muthoni Masinde & Joel O. Botai & Christina M. Botai, 2020. "Bibliometric Analysis of Methods and Tools for Drought Monitoring and Prediction in Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-22, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Motsoko Juniet Kgaphola & Abel Ramoelo & John Odindi & Jean-Marc Mwenge Kahinda & Ashwin Seetal & Constansia Musvoto, 2023. "Social–Ecological System Understanding of Land Degradation in Response to Land Use and Cover Changes in the Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-19, February.
    2. Massamba Diop & Ngonidzashe Chirinda & Adnane Beniaich & Mohamed El Gharous & Khalil El Mejahed, 2022. "Soil and Water Conservation in Africa: State of Play and Potential Role in Tackling Soil Degradation and Building Soil Health in Agricultural Lands," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-29, October.
    3. Le, Quang Bao & Nkonya, Ephraim & Mirzabaev, Alisher, 2014. "Biomass Productivity-Based Mapping of Global Land Degradation Hotspots," Discussion Papers 177961, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    4. Holden, Stein T. & Otsuka, Keijiro, 2014. "The roles of land tenure reforms and land markets in the context of population growth and land use intensification in Africa," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 88-97.
    5. Philippe Delacote, 2008. "The Safety-net Use of Non Timber Forest Products," Working Papers - Cahiers du LEF 2008-04, Laboratoire d'Economie Forestiere, AgroParisTech-INRA.
    6. Djanibekov, Utkur & Djanibekov, Nodir & Khamzina, Asia, 2012. "CDM afforestation for managing water, energy and rural income nexus in irrigated drylands," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 126765, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    7. Vondolia, Godwin Kofi & Eggert, HÃ¥kan & Stage, Jesper, "undated". "Nudging Boserup? The Impact of Fertilizer Subsidies on Investment in Soil and Water Conservation," RFF Working Paper Series dp-12-08-efd, Resources for the Future.
    8. Komarek, Adam M. & De Pinto, Alessandro & Smith, Vincent H., 2020. "A review of types of risks in agriculture: What we know and what we need to know," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    9. Tassah Ivo Tawe & Ndifon Franshua Becha & Henri Yambene Bomono, 2020. "Analysis of Vulnerability Hotspots in Landcover for Momo Division, North West Cameroon," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 4(9), pages 786-793, September.
    10. Awotide, B.A. & Abdoulaye, Tahirou & Alene, Arega & Manyong, Victor M., 2015. "Impact of Access to Credit on Agricultural Productivity: Evidence from Smallholder Cassava Farmers in Nigeria," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 210969, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    11. Schreinemachers, Pepijn & Berger, Thomas & Aune, Jens B., 2007. "Simulating soil fertility and poverty dynamics in Uganda: A bio-economic multi-agent systems approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 387-401, December.
    12. von Braun, Joachim & Mirzabaev, Alisher, 2015. "Small Farms: Changing Structures and Roles in Economic Development," Discussion Papers 210464, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    13. Razzaghi, Fatemeh & Zhou, Zhenjiang & Andersen, Mathias N. & Plauborg, Finn, 2017. "Simulation of potato yield in temperate condition by the AquaCrop model," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 113-123.
    14. Masupha, Teboho E. & Moeletsi, Mokhele E., 2020. "The use of Water Requirement Satisfaction Index for assessing agricultural drought on rain-fed maize, in the Luvuvhu River catchment, South Africa," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 237(C).
    15. Bezu, Sosina & Holden, Stein, 2008. "Can food-for-work encourage agricultural production?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 541-549, December.
    16. Otieno, Gloria Atieno & Reynolds, Travis W. & Karasapan, Altinay & Noriega, Isabel Lopez, 2017. "Implications of Seed Policies for On-Farm Agro-Biodiversity in Ethiopia and Uganda," Sustainable Agriculture Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 6(4), November.
    17. MEKURIA, Wuletaw & MEKONNEN, Kindu & ADUGNA, Marelign, 2020. "Farm Diversification In The Central Highlands Of Ethiopia. Patterns, Determinants And Its Effect On Household Income," Review of Agricultural and Applied Economics (RAAE), Faculty of Economics and Management, Slovak Agricultural University in Nitra, vol. 23(1), March.
    18. Calzadilla, Alvaro & Carr, Tony, 2020. "Land degradation and food security: impacts and adaptation options," Conference papers 333148, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    19. Asfaw, Solomon & McCarthy, Nancy & Paolantonio, Adriana & Cavatassi, Romina & Amare, Mulubrhan & Lipper, Leslie, 2015. "Diversification, Climate Risk and Vulnerability to Poverty: Evidence from Rural Malawi," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 230216, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    20. Abebaw, Degnet & Admassie, Assefa & Kassa, Habtemariam & Padoch, Christine, 2020. "Can rural outmigration improve household food security? Empirical evidence from Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:10:p:1728-:d:113268. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.