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sur le développement des zones arides et semi-arides

Titre : Examination of Effects of Expanding Cities on Peri-Urban Agricultural Areas : Implications on Farmers’ Livelihoods in Qarabulli District in the Eastern Part of Tripoli, Libya

Auteur : Ali, Akeel Ellafi

Université de soutenance : University of Huddersfield

Grade : Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) 2017

Résumé partiel
Many countries in the southern hemisphere are still in the process of developing. In North Africa to be specific, the development process is bringing about various degrees of land use and land cover changes which are having various levels of impact on people’s lives both in urban and peri-urban areas among others. The core causes of these changes vary, but literature indicates that the process of urbanization is the main cause since as cities and town areas urbanization, deforestation, soil erosion and the sale of land by rural farmers are encouraged. Implications of land use and land cover changes are broad and vary across geographies. It is the variations of the impact of such changes that motivated this researcher to conduct this research with the aim of analyzing effects of urbanization and expanding cities on the surrounding agricultural area. The research zeroed in on trying to understand how peri urban farmers and their livelihoods are being impacted by various land use and land cover changes that are emerging from the expansion of Tripoli, the capital of Libya.

This study examined the impact, both positive and negative, that the expansion of Tripoli has had on the livelihoods of these rural households in Qarabulli. It further sought to identify the way affected farmers and households cope and react to the various changes the expansion of Tripoli is exposing them to. The research also looked at the context in which the poor rural households pursue livelihoods, and discussed factors that make their livelihoods vulnerable. The forms of capitals, named livelihood assets, available to the rural households are also examined. The livelihood outcomes of the farmers, the strategies and the coping measures employed by affected peri urban farmers are identified and discussed.

Through the utilization of a mixed methods research approach, a mix of qualitative and quantitative data were collected, and analyzed. Data collection was done in two stages. The first stage looked at land use and land cover changes through a critical analysis of land degradation and this was done using Remote Sensing and GIS techniques. Image Classification, multi-temporal Landsat TM, and ETM+ imagery were used to determine and detect land use and land cover changes during the periods 1986 to 2009. The second stage of the research data collection process, collected qualitative data using Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) methods to explore farmers’ experiences and feelings on how the land use changes are impacting their livelihoods.

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