Analysis of Urban Expansion on Agricultural Food Production in Calabar, Nigeria

Urban growth appears to have direct effects on the available agricultural land in and around urban area which in turn affects food production and other agricultural activities in the city. Indiscriminate urban growth and increasing losses of agricultural lands have become an issue in developing countries. The aim of this study is to use Remote Sensing and GIS to monitor the impact of urban expansion on agricultural food production in Calabar, Nigeria. Landsat images of 1986, 2003 and 2018 of Calabar municipal and Calabar South were obtained. The study employed supervised digital image classification method using ILWIS 3.2 and ArcGIS 10.2a software. GIS software was used to classify the landuse into built-up area, natural vegetation, bare soil, agricultural land and water bodies. Also, a set of structured questionnaire were administered using the stratified random sampling technique to elicit information on the socio economic and driven factors responsible for conversion of agricultural landuse, effect of urban expansion on agricultural food production and measures adopted to preserve agricultural land uses. The results revealed increase in urban expansion on food production over the periods (1986–2018). Recommendations were provided that will reduce the rate of urban expansion on agricultural food production in the study area.