Land suitability evaluation for coffee Arabica production in Gidami District, Western Ethiopia: Using GIS and remote sensing

Land suitability evaluation is a prerequisite for sustainable agricultural production. This study was focused to assess land suitability analysis for coffee Arabica production in Gidami district, western Ethiopia. GIS and RS techniques with a multi criterion evaluation approach were used for evaluating the land suitability for coffee Arabica production.The evaluation 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 topography (slope, elevation), climate (rainfall and temperature), soil texture, and landscape (land use land cover). The influence of each factor was computed by pair-wise comparison technique (AHP) method. The final coffee Arabica suitability map was developed based on the linear combination of factors with their respective weights in ArcGIS overlay extension. 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 34.46 %( 69048.65ha) is high suitable while 114917.33ha (60.69%) and 5369.52ha (2.83%) moderately suitable and marginally suitable for coffee Arabica cultivation respectively. The findings for the research indicate that the study area has a potential area for coffee Arabica production.