Classifying Land based on its suitability for agriculture is crucial for agriculture development and future planning for food production. Based on that a land suitability assessment for rainfed maize variety was conducted in Sakure and Nginda Payams of Nzara and Yambio Counties, on 47 500 ha. The purpose was to produce a semi-detailed land suitability map (1:100 000) from georeferenced soil survey data and spatial environmental data to help agricultural development planners and decision makers. The Analytical Hierarchy Process was used in the ArcGIS to generate the land suitability map using co-kriging method. The result indicated that 56 % was highly, 44 % moderately suitable. The most important limiting factors for maize production are poor road conditions, distance from the main road, very low CEC, and a decline in soil fertility leading to practice of shifting cultivation. Based on the results it is recommended to conduct detailed land suitability assessment (1:25 000), and a study on farming systems be conducted since it is a mixed cropping being practiced in the area.

Keywords: Land suitability map, socio-economic, ArcGIS, Analytical Hierarchy Process