SEDInst© 2012. All rights reserved This work by SEDInst is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License 464 Advances in Agriculture, Sciences and Engineering Research http://www.ejournal.sedinst.com © Science and Education Development Institute, 2012 Volume 2 (11) Nov.: 464 - 472, 2012 Printed in Nigeria ISSN: 2276 - 6723 LAND-USE CHANGES, CLIMATE VARIATION AND FOOD SECURITY IN AKURE, NIGERIA *Tobi .Eniolu Morakinyo, Ifeoluwa.Adebowale Balogun and Ahmed.Adedoyin Balogun Department of Meteorology, Federal University of Technology, P.M.B 704, Akure, Nigeria *Corresponding authors e-mail: tobimorak@yahoo.com ABSTRACT Satellite derived information has become one of the major sources of information in global, regional and National early warning and food information system., In order to ensure food security the Food and Agricultural Organization(FAO) of the United Nations has been developing Remote Sensing techniques. This paper seeks to explore the use of Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing in mapping the land-use of Akure with a sole aim of solving agricultural related problems and detecting the pattern or trend of changes especially in the dense forest and arable land categories which are responsible and vital for agricultural productivity. Landsat TM 1986, 2002 and 2007 satellite imageries were classified and analyzed using GIS techniques while rainfall and data temperature for the period of 1980- 2007 were acquired for Meteorological station in Akure and analysed using the Petitt change point test. We observed changes in the various land-use types: arable land, bare surface/land, built-up/settlement and water bodies with a percentage change of 11.24,-5.86, 28.36,-33.87,0.13 respectively between 1986 and 2007: arable land increase shows that there are more available land for agricultural purpose but dense forest reduces indicating that there is deforestation and loss of biodiversity. Built-up area increase shows urbanization, population growth which led to conversion of one land-use to another. Analysis of meteorological data shows a no definite trend in rainfall pattern which is healthy for local crop production while temperature was observed to be increasing. KEYWORDS: Landuse, Agricultural productivity, food security, GIS/Remote sensing. INTRODUCTION The world is not food secure. Over 700 million people are undernourished, unable to grow or buy the food they need to live healthy lives, and more than 180 million children under five years of age are underweight (UN ACC/SCN 1992). Moreso,over 1.1 billion people world-wide live in households that earn a dollar a day or less per person (World Bank 1992). Food production growth in recent decades has been impressive. In the developing world, production of major staples such as rice, maize, and wheat has increased impressively as a result of the green revolution. In many developed countries, surplus production is being recorded year after year, partly due to large subsidies. Food production increased by 24 percent world-wide, and by 39 percent in developing countries, during the most recent decade, the 1980s (FAO 1990 and 1991). Particularly large increases were observed in China and the Far East, 54 and 46 percent, respectively. Even in Africa, where concerns regarding the future food situation are greatest, food production increased 33 percent. However, food production growth is much less impressive when compared to population growth. During the 1980s, per capita food production for the world increased by only 5 percent, while in the developing countries it increased by 13 percent (FAO 1990 and 1991). Satellite derived information has become one of the major sources of information in global, regional and National early warning and food information system. In order to ensure food security the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations has been developing Remote Sensing techniques. Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) are now providing new tools for advanced land use management. The collection of remotely sensed data facilitates the synoptic analyses of Earth - system function, patterning, and change at local, regional and global scales over time; such data also provide an important link between intensive, localized ecological research and regional, national and international conservation and management of biological diversity (Wilkie and Finn, 1996). Satellite Remote sensed data and GIS for land cover land use and its changes is a key to many diverse applications such as Environment, Forestry, Hydrology, Agriculture and Geology. Natural Resource Management, Planning and Monitoring programs depend on accurate information about the land cover in a region. Methods for monitoring vegetation change range from intensive field sampling with plot inventories to extensive analysis of remotely sensed data which has proven to be more cost effective for large regions, small site assessment and analysis. Satellite remote sensing data are at different spatial, spectral, and temporal resolutions by using the appropriate combination of