The Impact of Urban Areas Expansion on Agricultural Land Reduction from 2010 to 2022. A Case Study of Gahanga Sector, Kigali, Rwanda

Rwanda has experienced rapid urbanization and urban sprawl in recent decades as its economy has grown and population has increased. This urban expansion has put immense pressure on the country's limited agricultural lands. This study aims to quantify the loss of agricultural land due to the encroachment of urban areas across Rwanda in Gahanga sector between 2010-2022. To achieve this aim, Documentary review and geospatial data and remote sensing satellite images, including Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) and Operational Land Imager (OLI) were used to classify the land use and land cover of the study area subdivided into 2010, 2016 to 2022 The result of the study indicated that built-up has grown at an estimated rate of 7.82 % in 2016 to 58.67% in 2022 and the cropland area witnessed a decline of 41.36% of Gahanga’s land in only 12 years (2010 to 2022) this covers 1525.51Ha of Gahanga’s total land mostly due to a tremendous augmentation in urban area. There is a definite correlation between the decrease in agricultural land and urban growth. Basing on the results of this study, there is actual urge to improve the land management knowledge and skills of the city planners to balance the increasing land demand and the loss of agricultural land.Further study be done on the ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the effects of LULC Changes on agricultural land reduction as well as the ecosystems