Spatial Suitability Analysis and Mapping of Agroforestry Areas. Case study of Musanze District in Northern Province of Rwanda

Abstract

Agroforestry has been envisioned among the possible solutions to sustainable land-use systems. Geographic Information System (GIS) is a fundamental computer based tool to examine the suitability of the study area for future agroforestry extension development. This study intends to address agroforestry suitability site selection for the future agroforestry extension in Musanze district. The biophysical criteria including land use, rainfall, temperature, soil pH, and altitude were selected. Using the Saaty’s Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and GIS model builder environment criteria were weighted and classified. Data analysis correlation tool in excel was used to assess the correlation between level of suitability and agroforestry survival rate in five locations of the district. The results show that regarding the district total area of 53 000 ha, only 24.3% of the study area is very suitable for agroforestry, while 56.4% is highly suitable, 17.8% is moderately suitable, and 0.5% is not suitable for agroforestry plantation. The results of trees survival rate in selected sites were found to be correlated at 0.93 to the level of suitability where the survival of trees ranging between 75% and 90% was found to be in medium to very high suitable area, respectively. The findings and the applied spatial analysis approach can assist decision-makers in finding suitable area for future agroforestry extension.