Geospatial assessment of potential land suitability for oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq) cultivation in the western parts of Ethiopia

Abstract

Ethiopia is investing in Oil Palm cultivation to minimize palm oil imports from other countries. Our aim was to analyze the potential land suitability for oil palm tree cultivation by using geospatial technology with an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) in the Jejeba watershed, Western Ethiopia. Ten parameters such as, land use land cover (LULC), land surface temperature (LST), agro-ecological zone (AEZ), slope, rainfall, soil types, soil texture, soil drainage, soil depth and road were aggregated and reclassified according to their suitability to evaluate potential land for oil palm cultivation in the study. In the presnt study, ArcGIS 10.3, ERDAS 2015, and ArcSWAT software were used. Results show that about 36.7 km2 (1.3%) was highly suitable for palm oil cultivation. Consiquentially,1780.5 km2 (64.8%) was moderately suitable for oil palm cultivation whereas, about 25.2 km2 (0.9%) of the study area was not suitable for oil palm cultivation. The southeastern part was highly suitable, whereas some eastern and northern parts of the study area were not suitable for oil palm cultivation. Therefore, government and non-governmental organizations should raise awareness among local communities to support oil palm cultivation in the study area. Further studies should be carried out, especially on the importance of soil PH, aspect, and proximity to markets should be investigated to understand the most suitable areas for Oil Palm cultivation in the western parts of Ethiopia.