Land Suitability Analysis for agriculture using GIS and RS in South Gondar Zone, Ethiopia

Ethiopia’s national economic development is significantly influenced by agriculture. From the zone level to the national level, agricultural land-use intensification and extensification appear to be necessary to meet the growing population’s demand for food and other agricultural products. However, the extent, distribution, or level of agricultural land potential have not been well explored and documented. Like other parts of the country, the agricultural land suitability of South Gondar was not studied. Hence, it is urgently necessary to match crop requirements with resources that are currently available through land suitability analysis in order to maintain the productivity of agricultural land. This study aimed to address land suitability analysis by using geographical information system (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) based multi-criteria approach in South Gondar zone. Worldwide data sources, literature reviews, and on-site investigations, were used to evaluate the suitability of agricultural land in the zone. Seven criteria were identified and the criteria were preprocessed as raster layers on a GIS platform, and the weights of the raster layers were calculated for appropriateness using the analytic hierarchy approach (AHP). A weighted overlay analysis was then used to classify the agricultural land as highly suitable, moderately suitable, marginally suitable and not suitable. According to the analysis results, 26% of the land coverage of the zone was found to be highly suitable for agriculture. 70% and 4% of the zone area were found to be moderately and marginally suitable for agriculture respectively.