CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
The world is rapidly urbanizing, and it has witnessed a tremendous shift of its population from being predominantly rural to predominantly urban in the last two decades (De Sherbinin, 2007). The world’s population is estimated to be 7.01 billion and by the year 2030, more than 60% of this population will be living in urban areas especially in developing countries, consuming close to three-quarters of the world‟s natural resources, and generating three quarters of its pollution and wastes (Peters, 2000; Redman and Jones, 2005). This growth will require unprecedented investment in new infrastructure and create serious challenges for political and social institutions.
Rapid expansion of urban centers in the world at large and specifically in developing countries has continued to pose great challenges such that evokes interests from ecologists, planners, civil engineers, sociologists, administrators and policy makers on how much expansion is taking place, the effects on agricultural land and possible solution. It serves as a strong agent of land use/land cover change, hence loss of agricultural land (Olawole, Msimanga, Adegboyega, and Adeshina, 2011), and equally contributes to development; a requirement for and a result of economic, cultural and social development, as well as engines of economic growth and poverty alleviation (World Bank, 2009).
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