GIS-based Land Suitability Analysis for Surface Irrigation Using Analytical Hierarchy Process Method in East and West Bellessa, Northwestern Ethiopia

Bellessa is found in central Gondar, which is affected frequently by drought thanks to spatial and temporal failure of rainfall. Therefore, the agriculture in this area has to be supported by surface irrigation. For this, land suitability analysis for surface irrigation is extremely important to scale back food security problem. GIS-based land suitability analysis was conducted using analytical hierarchy process methods. Eight factors like slope, elevation, distance to water source, land use, soil texture, type, depth, and drainage are considered and therefore the weight of every parameter was estimated using 8x8 pairwise comparison matrix. After all, final land suitability map was generated using weighted overlay method under GIS tool. the ultimate map was classified into four land suitable classes using natural break classification method as highly suitable (S1), moderately suitable (S2), marginally suitable (S3), and not suitable class (S4). The result showed that highly suitable, moderately suitable, marginally suitable and not suitable class are covered 13.9%, 46.9%, 26.9%, and 12.2% of the whole area, respectively. This study finding will features a vital role in conducting surface irrigation considering the input parameters and therefore the final demarcated suitable land classes.