Impact of Informal Settlement on Land Use Land Cover Change in Rwanda, a Case of Gahanga Sector in Kicukiro District, Rwanda

This study investigated the impact of informal settlements on Land Use Land Cover (LULC) change in Gahanga Sector, Kicukiro District, Rwanda. Using GIS and Remote Sensing techniques with Landsat imagery from 2010, 2016, 2020, and 2024, LULC changes were analyzed through ENVI 5.3 to map informal settlements and environmental changes. Seven LULC classes were assessed: informal and planned settlements, farmland, bare land, forest, marshland, and water bodies. The study focused on farmland decline, deforestation, vegetation loss, and wetland shrinkage. Findings aim to inform policymakers and urban planners on sustainable strategies to manage urbanization and mitigate environmental impacts in developing areas. The results indicated that within the period of 14 years, informal settlement decreased to 2.42% while planned settlement increased at 5.05%. Forest cover decreased to 9.43%, farmland decreased to 6.05% and bare land increased to 18.39% due to the development of earth roads by urban physical land use planning and extraction of construction materials. Land Cover fragmentation due development of informal settlement and its conversion to planned settlement from 2010 to 2024 lead to the vulnerability of Nyabarongo marshland and water body in Gahanga Sector of Kicukiro district in the City of Kigali, Rwanda. Marshland laid area reduced to 10.11% due to water flooding which increased to 3.56%. This led to the conclusion that to eliminate informal settlement and its impacts to Land Use Land Cover Change resulting to environmental degradation in Gahanga sector requires continuous enforcement of Kigali city masterplan 2020 implementation and community mobilization on environmental conservation, sustainable urban development, and formal construction permitting scheme. Key words: Informal settlement, Land Use Land Cover Change, Environmental impact, GIS, Kicukiro District, Gahanga Sector, Rwanda.