Integrating GIS Techniques with AHP for Assessing Land Degradation in
the Birim North district, Eastern region, Ghana
Abstract
Land degradation (LD) is a global canker that is of major concern for
the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) which
has led to a UNCCD target 15.3 of achieving land degradation neutral
world by 2030. In order to attain this target, LD needs to be assessed,
hence geospatial techniques integrated with analytical hierarchy process
(AHP) to assess LD in the Birim North district of the Eastern region of
Ghana. The AHP assigned weights to the criterions, and with weighted
overlay algorithms in ArcGIS, the land degradation assessment map was
generated. The results shown that 28.21% and 38.96 % has experienced
no degradation and slight degradation respectively, whilst 24.32 % and
8.51% of the study area experienced medium and high degradation
respectively. The spatial distribution of the LD was displayed on a map.
The findings of this study would be a stepping stone for researchers,
stakeholders and government to implement rehabilitation models to
reverse LD in the Birim North district.