The Spatial Evolution Characteristics and Driving Factors of Cultivated Land in Developing Countries: A Case Study of Cultivated Land Changes in Henan, China

The important goals of SDGs include eliminating hunger, achieving food security, improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture. Focusing on the arable land issue can help address not only the relationship between humans and land but also the relationship between humans and nature in the Anthropocene. As a country with a large population in the world, the per capita cultivated land in China is lower than the global level, the quality of cultivated land is uneven, and the reserve resources are inadequate. The changes in arable land in Henan Province have attracted much attention as a major grain-producing area in China. Since changes in arable land are affected by multiple factors, it is difficult to find scientific answers for comprehensive problems based on the analysis of the net benefit of a single factor. Based on the analysis of the characteristics of the spatial evolution of arable land, the improvement of the analysis system of driving factors will help to understand the change of arable land scientifically. By comprehensively analysis the multifactorial characteristics of arable land change drivers, such as industrialization, urbanization and policies, and analyzing the remote sensing data and GIS data via the Geodetector analysis method, it is of great significance to conduct research on the spatial and temporal characteristics of arable land and its driving factors in Henan Province, China. A case study was conducted in Henan Province from 2000 to 2020 based on remote sensing images and GIS Geodetector technology to analyse the spatial evolution of cultivated land and explore the influencing factors driving the declining trend of cultivated land area. The results revealed that: 1) the arable land gradually decreased from 108,263.39km² in 2000 to 106,389.63km² in 2010 and 103,469.81km² in 2020, with a significant increase shown in the construction land; 2) the main factors affecting changes in arable land include total population, GDP, urbanisation rate, etc. In China's main grain-producing region, Henan Province, industrialisation and urbanisation processes are the main driving factors for the reduction of arable land. Presently, enhancing the efficiency of industrialisation and strengthening the intensive management of land in the process of urbanisation is an important way to resolve the contradictions in human-land relations and to strengthen the management of land resources.