Multi-criteria suitability analysis for neglected and underutilised crop species in South Africa
Open Access
- 19 January 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Public Library of Science (PLoS) in PLOS ONE
- Vol. 16 (1), e0244734
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244734
Abstract
Several neglected and underutilised species (NUS) provide solutions to climate change and creating a Zero Hunger world, the Sustainable Development Goal 2. Several NUS are drought and heat stress-tolerant, making them ideal for improving marginalised cropping systems in drought-prone areas. However, owing to their status as NUS, current crop suitability maps do not include them as part of the crop choices. This study aimed to develop land suitability maps for selected NUS [sorghum, (Sorghum bicolor), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), amaranth and taro (Colocasia esculenta)] using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) in ArcGIS. Multidisciplinary factors from climatic, soil and landscape, socio-economic and technical indicators overlaid using Weighted Overlay Analysis. Validation was done through field visits, and area under the curve (AUC) was used to measure AHP model performance. The results indicated that sorghum was highly suitable (S1) = 2%, moderately suitable (S2) = 61%, marginally suitable (S3) = 33%, and unsuitable (N1) = 4%, cowpea S1 = 3%, S2 = 56%, S3 = 39%, N1 = 2%, amaranth S1 = 8%, S2 = 81%, S3 = 11%, and taro S1 = 0.4%, S2 = 28%, S3 = 64%, N1 = 7%, of calculated arable land of SA (12 655 859 ha). Overall, the validation showed that the mapping exercises exhibited a high degree of accuracies (i.e. sorghum AUC = 0.87, cowpea AUC = 0.88, amaranth AUC = 0.95 and taro AUC = 0.82). Rainfall was the most critical variable and criteria with the highest impact on land suitability of the NUS. Results of this study suggest that South Africa has a huge potential for NUS production. The maps developed can contribute to evidence-based and site-specific recommendations for NUS and their mainstreaming. Also, the maps can be used to design appropriate production guidelines and to support existing policy frameworks which advocate for sustainable intensification of marginalised cropping systems through increased crop diversity and the use of stress-tolerant food crops.Funding Information
- Water Research Commission of South Africa (K5/2717//4)
- Caring for our Country (205200/Z/16/Z)
This publication has 91 references indexed in Scilit:
- Potential of Underutilized Traditional Vegetables and Legume Crops to Contribute to Food and Nutritional Security, Income and More Sustainable Production SystemsSustainability, 2014
- Land Suitability Assessment on a Watershed of Loess Plateau Using the Analytic Hierarchy ProcessPLOS ONE, 2013
- Insights into the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) as a discrimination measure in species distribution modellingGlobal Ecology and Biogeography, 2011
- A spatial-statistical approach to the visualisation of uncertainty in land suitability analysisJournal of Spatial Science, 2010
- Estimating crop stresses, aboveground dry biomass and yield of corn using multi-temporal optical data combined with a radiation use efficiency modelRemote Sensing of Environment, 2010
- Land suitability classification using different sources of information: Soil maps and predicted soil attributes in JordanGeoderma, 2007
- Multi-criteria decision analysis in natural resource management: A critical review of methods and new modelling paradigmsForest Ecology and Management, 2006
- What do subsistence farmers know about indigenous crops and organic farming? Preliminary experience in KwaZulu-NatalDevelopment Southern Africa, 2003
- Evaluating biophysical variables to identify suitable areas for oat in Central Mexico: a multi-criteria and GIS approachAgriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 2003
- Towards an integration of conventional land evaluation methods and farmers’ soil suitability assessment: a case study in northwestern SyriaAgriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 2003