Land suitability assessment for irrigated lentil cultivation in Southwest Shewa Zone, Ethiopia using remote sensing, GIS, and the analytic hierarchy process

Sustainable expansion of irrigated agriculture requires accurate identification of suitable land areas based on biophysical conditions. This study evaluates land suitability for irrigated lentils cultivation in Southwest Shewa Zone, Ethiopia, using an integrated Remote Sensing (RS), Geographic Information System (GIS), and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach. Nine suitability criteria, including temperature, land use/land cover, slope, elevation, soil type, soil texture, soil pH, soil drainage, and distance to water sources, were analyzed to develop a spatial suitability map. The AHP approach was applied to determine the relative importance of each criterion, with distance to water (32.5%) and slope (28.2%) identified as the most influential factors. The results classified the study area into four suitability categories: highly suitable (10.47%), moderately suitable (30.47%), marginally suitable (38.88%), and not suitable (20.18%). Model performance was evaluated using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis, producing an Area Under the Curve (AUC) value of 0.766, indicating good predictive performance of the suitability model. The findings reveal that 40.94% of the area has high to moderate potential for irrigated lentils production, while limitations are mainly associated with soil conditions, slope, and water accessibility. The study provides a spatial decision-support framework for identifying suitable areas, prioritizing irrigation development, and promoting sustainable land resource management and climate-resilient lentils production in Ethiopia.