Achieving food security and sustainable resource management has become the main goal for many developing countries. Rice is a staple crop in Liberia and its demand is increasing while yield remains low. Rapidly changing climate patterns and persistent low yields necessitate a systematic, data-driven identification of the most resilient and productive agricultural areas for rice, contributing to food security. Currently, there is a gap on empirical and national-scale rice suitability assessment for Liberia. This study aims to identify suitable areas for rice cultivation in Liberia, based on climate, geomorphologic and geochemical factors. We used a GIS-based Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) approach, applying the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to derive expert-weighted criteria layers (climate, geomorphologic, and geochemical) for the final suitability map. Results show that 5.57% of Liberia is highly suitable, 44.57% suitable, 42.41% semi-suitable, and 7.45% unsuitable. Primary limiting factors for rice suitability in Liberia include: pH, slope, and soil texture. Most suitable areas are found in the central, northern, and southeastern regions, including counties such as Lofa, Bong, Nimba, Gbarbolu, Grand Gedeh, and River Gee. These findings indicate that 50.14% of the land presents favorable conditions for rice cultivation in Liberia, including potential land (42.41%) that can be harnessed using agricultural technologies. This study provides important aids for agricultural sector, particularly for land accessibility and planning, and further provides a critical baseline for the government and stakeholders to strategically target land-use planning, input subsidies, and enhance rice production through expansion of land in the suitable areas indicated hereof, thereby, directly supporting national food security goals.
Simpson et al. (Mon,) studied this question.