摘要：Land cover change studies examine the status of land to explain physiographic and socio-economic processes, causes and effects, and environmental implications. The present paper relates land cover change in a food-insecure catchment to development of gullies, particularly their position in the landscape as well as the history of gully formation. Maps were produced for 1965, 1972, 1986, and 2000 from aerial photographs and satellite images. The conversion of tree and shrub cover to cultivation was observed pre-1986; the critical period for gully development in the catchment was 1974–1985. Land cover change thus contributed to gully erosion. An integrated recovery policy is required to restore the catchment to useful productivity.
