Land suitability evaluation using GIS and multicriteria decision analysis for cashew cultivation in the Abaya-Chamo Watershed, Ethiopia

Cashew ( Anacardium occidentale L) is a multipurpose crop and is one of the important foreign exchange earning crops. The objectives of this study were fourfold: (1) to examine the physical characteristics of soils and determine their suitability level for cashew cultivation in the Abaya-Chamo Watershed, (2) to examine the climatic conditions and determine its influence on Cashew crops, (3) to examine the topography and elevation and determine its suitability for cashew cultivation, and (4) to produce an overall land suitability map for cashew cultivation in the Abaya-Chamo Watershed. An analytic Hierarchy Process with the integration of GIS-based multi-criterion decision-making was utilized to evaluate land suitability for cashews cultivation. The results indicated that out of the total Abaya-Chamo watershed area (1,600,372 ha), 8.77 % (141,889 ha) is highly suitable (S1) for cashew cultivation, 81.38 % (1,310,562 ha) is moderately suitable (S2) for cashew cultivation and 9.12 % (146,889 ha) is currently not suitable (N) for cashew cultivation, 73.92 % of the study area was less than 17.5 km distance from the lakes. However, the largest land area, 81.38 % (1,310,560 ha) is moderately suitable for large-scale cashew cultivation. Thus, with inputs such as a variety of seedlings to adjust the limiting factors, there is enormous potential for large-scale cashew cultivation in the watershed.