Vol.:(0123456789) Environment, Development and Sustainability https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-021-01392-2 1 3 Land use/cover dynamics and its impact on the rural livelihood of potter communities Teshome Yirgu 1  · Vanum Govindu 1  · Yibeltal Yihunie 2 Received: 2 June 2020 / Accepted: 1 April 2021 © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2021 Abstract This study was undertaken to examine impacts of land use/cover dynamics on the rural livelihood of potter communities in Domba Watershed, Southwestern Ethiopia. For the study, Landsat imageries of three periods 1976, 1995 and 2018 were used to analyze the land use/cover dynamics using ERDAS Imagine and ArcGIS. Additionally, bio-physi- cal, demographic and socioeconomic data were collected from 98 sample households of the potter communities through interviews, focus group discussions, and transect walks. Descriptive statistics and Multinomial logistic regression model were utilized to analyze those data. The result revealed that at the beginning of the study period woodland (29.8%) and grassland (19.6%) occupied the dominant land use/cover types, which shared 49.4% of the area. Contrarily, croplands and settlements showed progressive expansion in 2018 and covered 67.57% of the total area. It was noted that over population and over stocking are the top mentioned drivers of land use/cover dynamics in the area. Furthermore, deep rooted and age-old social segregation, the absence of shop in the market to display and keep pottery products, deprived by other communities to access the raw material vicin- ity, low price of pottery products and the absence of handcrafts association are among the major constraints of potter community in the watershed. Appropriate soil and water con- servation measures through public and community-based intervention approach has to be undertaken to rehabilitate progressively degrading landscapes. Additionally, minimizing the age-old social segregation and other related political and economic constraints of potter communities in the watershed shall get due attention. Keywords Degradation · Domba · GIS · Remote sensing · Segregation * Teshome Yirgu teshome.yirgu@amu.edu.et 1 Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Arba Minch University, Arba Minch, Ethiopia 2 Department of Natural Resources Management, Arba Minch University, P.O. Box 21, Arba Minch, Ethiopia