Auditing the spatial and temporal changes in urban cropland in Harare metropolitan Province, Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT

Urban agriculture continues to play a key role in addressing food insecurity and poverty across developing countries. This study used Landsat 5 imagery to map the spatial and temporal distribution of cropland in Harare Metropolitan in Zimbabwe using the Random Forest classifier in Google Earth Engine. Results show that the area under cultivation fluctuated considerably between 1985 and 2019 and several factors account for this trend. The results of this study illustrate the increasing importance of remote sensing in assessing cropland in urban areas that provides insights into the contribution of urban agriculture to food security.

KEYWORDS:

• Urban agriculture
• food security
• remote sensing
• random forest
• spatio-temporal trends

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lenon Musosa

Lenon Musosa holds a Bsc Hons in Geographic Information Science and Earth Observation

Munyaradzi D Shekede

Munyaradzi D Shekede holds a PhD in spatial ecology with wide experience in the application of Earth observation and Geographic Information Science to understand earth system dynamics focusing on climate change, socio-ecological systems, and water resources.

Isaiah Gwitira

Isaiah Gwitira holds a PhD in spatial epidemiology with a keen interest in understanding spatial patterns of both human and animal diseases and their relationship with environmental determinants.

Innocent Chirisa

Innocent Chirisa is a Full Professor in the Department of Demography Settlement and Development of the University of Zimbabwe. Dean of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, University of Zimbabwe and a Research Fellow in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of the Free State, South Africa.

Daniel Tevera

Daniel Tevera is a Full Professor at the University of the Western Cape, and his research interests are: African migration, Urban Food Systems, Urban Waste, Environmental Security, Africa

Abraham R Matamanda

Abraham R Matamanda has a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning and has research interests in human settlement planning and management, Geography, and environmental planning.