Abstract
In Nigeria, cocoa is an important cash crop that contributes to wealth creation and poverty alleviation. This study combined a Geographic Information System (GIS) application and Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) to assess land suitability for cocoa cultivation. Based on the FAO rating standard Landsat ETM (2002) and Landsat 8 (2015) images, AsterDEM data, rainfall data, soil map, and the administrative map of Idanre were processed, classified, and reclassified into four (4) suitability classes. Different weights were generated through Analytic Hierarchic Process, based on the crop requirements. The result of the GIS-MCE analysis shows that 71.34 % (1401.79533 km²) of the study area are moderately suitable, 26.48% (520.31876 km²) marginally suitable, and only 2.18% (42.83591 km²) is not suitable for cocoa production. The results shows that the major limiting factors for good cocoa production and yield were poor land use management and insufficient rainfall. Key words: Cocoa, land suitability, urbanization, satellite images, Geographic Information System (GIS), multi-criteria evaluation.  
Highlights
Cocoa is among the leading export crop in the world with a world production of 4,645 thousand tones for the year 2017/2018 (ICCO, 2018)
This study identified clay loam, loamy sand, sandy clay, sandy clay loam, and sandy loam as the major soil types in the study area
Other land suitability parameters such as rainfall and topography affect the suitability of the land for cocoa cultivation
Summary
Cocoa is among the leading export crop in the world with a world production of 4,645 thousand tones for the year 2017/2018 (ICCO, 2018). Africa remains the largest cocoa producing region accounting for 75.9% of the world cocoa production in 2017/2018, followed by America (17%), and Asia and Oceania (7.1%). According to Afoakwa (2014), cocoa is grown mostly in humid tropic areas such as Central and South America, Asia and Africa. The introduction of cocoa to West Africa after its discovery in the Amazon basin has resulted in its commercial cultivation and production in Nigeria. Cocoa has contributed to the generation of cash income and revenue for the nation, and creates employment for the citizens.
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