Integration Between GIS, Remote Sensing Analysis and AHP for Assessment of Cultivating Suitability in Western Desert Land of Egypt

The Western Desert of Egypt offers substantial potential for agricultural development to mitigate the nation’s food security issues. The study uses a multi-criteria decision-making framework based on the FAO land suitability classification and the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to determine if the area is good for farming. Essential factors, such as evapotranspiration (ETo), precipitation, soil types, slope, and land use/land cover (LULC), are classified and merged into a Remote Sensing (RS) and GIS-based weighted overlay analysis to provide a detailed suitability map. The results show that we categorize 20.74% of the research area as highly suitable (S1) and 41.56% as moderately suitable (S2). Furthermore, 37.36% is classified as marginally suitable (S3), while just 0.33% is labeled as currently not suitable (N1), and there are no regions designated as permanently not suitable (N2). This suggests the feasibility of using the whole study region for agricultural purposes, albeit differing degrees of intervention may be necessary. The lack of the N2 category underscores the viability of land reclamation initiatives, contingent upon effective resource management. This study shows that combining AHP, GIS and Rs technologies can help you figure out if land is good for farming, which is a big help for making smart decisions about long-term farming planning. The results provide practical recommendations for policymakers to improve resource distribution and emphasize agricultural advancement in the Western Desert, bolstering national initiatives to strengthen food security.