Land Suitability Analysis for Arabica Coffee (Coffea Arabica) Production Using Geospatial and Multi Criteria Evaluation in Jardega Jarte District, Western Ethiopia

Abstract

Land suitability analysis is a prerequisite for sustainable agricultural production. This study aimed to assess land suitability analysis for Arabica coffee (Coffea Arabica) production in Jardega Jarte district. A GIS and RS technique with a multi criteria evaluation approach was applied for evaluating the land suitability for coffee Arabica production. The evaluation of land in terms of suitability classes was based on the method described in FAO guideline for land evaluation. Factors that were considered for evaluation of the land suitability for coffee Arabica production were climate (rainfall and temperature), topography (slope, elevation), soil (drainage, soil texture, soil depth, soil pH) and landscape (land use land cover). The weight of influence of each factor was computed by pair-wise comparison technique which is one of AHP method. The final coffee Arabica suitability map was created based on the linear combination of factors with their respective weights in ArcGIS overlay extension. This map was classified in to three suitability classes based on FAO Guidelines. The results for coffee Arabica suitability classes show that highly suitable (S1), moderately suitable (S2) and marginally suitable (S3). From the total land of the study area 8979.47 hac (8.4%) is high suitable, 97347.98 hac (90.5%) moderately suitable and 1193.39 hac (1.1%) marginally suitable for coffee Arabica cultivation. The findings for the research indicate that the study area has a potential area for coffee Arabica production.