Assessment of the Natural Landscape Changes Due to Cashew Plantations in the Department of Niakaramandougou (North of Côte d’Ivoire)

In the past twenty years, Cote d’Ivoire has risen from being an insignificant producer of raw cashew nuts to becoming the world’s largest producer. A rapid increase of cashew plantations has significantly changed the natural landscape in the North part of Cote d’Ivoire. This study was conducted in the department of Niakaramadougou to assess the natural landscape change due to cashew plantations from 1989 to 2017. Satellite image data were used in order to evaluate land use land cover (LULC) change. The maximum likelihood pixel-based on classification method was used to analyze the spatio-temporal LULC dynamics for the years 1989, 2000, and 2017. The results showed an increase in cashew culture by 20.68% between 1989 and 2017 to the detriment of the savannah. Thus, the land devoted to old fallows or to other crops such as rice, maize, yams, peanuts, sorghum) is decreasing and the natural vegetation is becoming more and more fragmented, with consequences that are not yet known. This surely contributes to the reduction of plant diversity.