Climate, soil and land-use based land suitability evaluation for oil palm production in Ghana

•The development of a methodology to identify suitable and available areas for oil palm production in Ghana and West Africa.•An analysis of the main constraints to oil palm production in Ghana.•Water deficit is the major factor limiting oil palm production and yields in Ghana.•Expansion of oil palm...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of agronomy 2016-11, Vol.81, p.1-14
Main Authors: Rhebergen, Tiemen, Fairhurst, Thomas, Zingore, Shamie, Fisher, Myles, Oberthür, Thomas, Whitbread, Anthony
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ghana
Land suitability
Oil palm productivity
Water deficit
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Summary:•The development of a methodology to identify suitable and available areas for oil palm production in Ghana and West Africa.•An analysis of the main constraints to oil palm production in Ghana.•Water deficit is the major factor limiting oil palm production and yields in Ghana.•Expansion of oil palm production in Ghana is limited by the availability of land. In the past decade, oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) has become the world’s most important oil crop. The large demand for palm oil has resulted in a rapid expansion of oil palm cultivation across the globe. Because of the dwindling availability of land in Southeast Asia, most expansion of the industry is expected in Central and South America and sub-Saharan Africa, where land with suitable agro-ecological conditions is available. Using Ghana as a case study, a method for evaluating areas that are both suitable and available for oil palm production is presented. Our assessment used spatial data and GIS techniques, and showed that areas with suitable climatic conditions (annual average water deficit 
ISSN:1161-0301
1873-7331
DOI:10.1016/j.eja.2016.08.004