Land Resource Management for Sustainability in the Oku-Mbessa Highlands, North West Region, Cameroon

摘要

Land resources constitute one of the most indispensable resources and the ultimate prerequisites for the survival and prosperity of humankind on the earth surface. Management is very indispensible for sustainability and livelihoods of resources and population respectively. The aim of the study is to examine the trends of land resource management, and present the implications on land resource sustainability and livelihoods using Landsat images of 1988, 2000, 2007 and 2018 in the Oku-Mbessa Highlands of Cameroon. A historical survey and comparative research designs with mixed qualitative-quantitative research approaches were used to detect the annual rates of land resource cover changes for the periods of 1982 to 1994, 1995 to 2006 and 2007 to 2018, analysed at spatiotemporal levels. Data was collected from 150 household heads using a semi-structured questionnaire. Data was analysed using inferential statistics with the F-ratio Test at a 0.05 critical level and a df of 4 to determine the management trends, sustainable and livelihood patterns ushered. The results reveal the calculated F-ratio values for the three periodical trends of 1.09, 1.21 and 2.05 are higher than the tabulated ratios of 0.36, 0.31 and 0.89 respectively. This indicates that there has been a significant increase in the trends of land resource management. Positive environmental sustainable and livelihood patterns were introduced in the management process. This study recommends the need for the government to improve management security at the grassroots level to forestall the inextricable link between resource management, sustainability and livelihoods in the Oku-Mbessa highlands.