We present novel methods that use geographic information systems (GIS) and multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to evaluate land suitability for a set of seven agroforestry crops, with the aim to differentiate relative land suitability and its potential to achieve different benefit goals for the Sigatoka Valley, Fiji. Our first model (Land Suitability) identifies optimal areas for each crop based on readily available edaphic and environmental cultivation criteria and common GIS datasets. The second model (Weighted Maximum) uses objective approaches for weighting the relative importance of target crops to derive a multi-crop suitability map. We use the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) technique (a form of MCDA) to identify the relative importance of five benefit types (i.e. agroforestry initiative goals/AHP Objectives). AHP criterion weights were used to map the most important crops for different agroforestry goals. Our methods are unique among GIS-MCDA applications of land suitability analysis in that our aim was to investigate and spatially evaluate land use suitability for multiple crops on a per-crop basis, whereas the aim of most GIS-MCDA land suitability analyses is to evaluate relative suitability (e.g. low, medium, high), evaluate potential for different land uses (e.g. production, intensive, or multifunctional) or land suitability for a single crop. We conclude that the methods described can be adapted to agroforestry initiatives and other similar land use suitability applications in the Pacific region and other geographical settings.

我们提出了使用地理信息系统 (GIS) 和多标准决策分析 (MCDA) 来评估一组七种农林作物的土地适宜性的新方法，目的是区分相对土地适宜性及其实现不同利益目标的潜力。斐济的 Sigatoka 山谷。我们的第一个模型（土地适宜性）根据现成的土壤和环境栽培标准以及通用 GIS 数据集确定每种作物的最佳区域。第二种模型（加权最大值) 使用客观方法对目标作物的相对重要性进行加权，以得出多作物适宜性图。我们使用层次分析法 (AHP) 技术（MCDA 的一种形式）来确定五种收益类型（即农林业计划目标/AHP 目标）的相对重要性。AHP 标准权重用于绘制不同农林复合目标的最重要作物。我们的方法在土地适宜性分析的 GIS-MCDA 应用中是独一无二的，因为我们的目标是在每种作物的基础上调查和空间评估多种作物的土地利用适宜性，而大多数 GIS-MCDA 土地适宜性分析的目的是评估相对适宜性（例如低、中、高），评估不同土地用途（例如生产、集约化或多功能）的潜力或单一作物的土地适宜性。