Journal of Food Security, 2014, Vol. 2, No. 1, 27-32 Available online at http://pubs.sciepub.com/jfs/2/1/4 © Science and Education Publishing DOI:10.12691/jfs-2-1-4 Palestinian Strategic Food Security via Land Suitability Analysis for Reclamation Rezq Basheer-Salimia 1,* , Mohamad Al-Amleh 2 , Alsalimiya Mohamad 2 1 Department of Plant Production and Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Hebron University, Palestine 2 Land Research Center (LRC), Palestine *Corresponding author: rezqbasheer@hebron.edu Received December 24, 2014; Revised February 20, 2014; Accepted February 24, 2014 Abstract Recent assessments concluded that 38% of the Palestinian population is food insecure. In addition, 11% and 16% of the population in West Bank and Gaza Strip respectively, are vulnerable to food insecurity. Increasing food production could be achieved either by increasing the agricultural productivity and/or expanding cultivable land. The main goal of this study is to provide an accurate guide for the unused lands in the Hebron Governorate on its suitability for reclamation and the best usage of these lands for cultivation via GIS techniques. According to the reclamation suitability level, the land was classified into four categories: most, highly, moderate, and least suitable. Main parameters included were landform class (slope, foot slope, hill crest, and drainage depression), slope degree, rockoutcrop percentage, aspect, and climate (arid, semi-arid, and sub-humid).Out of 106,700 hectare of the total area of the Hebron Governorate, only 30% is devoted to various agricultural practices and 62% is still unused and thereby available for land use. Additionally, the study results indicated that a total of 24,560 hectares were suitable for reclamation. Of this, 13%, 60%, and 27% were found to be mostly, highly, and moderately respectively suitable for reclamation. The present study is the first attempt to evaluate the land suitability for reclamation at Palestine level using GIS techniques. Keywords: food security, land suitability, GIS, land reclamation Cite This Article: Rezq Basheer-Salimia, Mohamad Al-Amleh2, and Alsalimiya Mohamad, “Palestinian Strategic Food Security via Land Suitability Analysis for Reclamation.” Journal of Food Security, vol. 2, no. 1 (2014): 27-32. doi: 10.12691/jfs-2-1-4. 1. Introduction The occupied Palestinian territory is composed of two physically separated areas named as West Bank and Gaza Strip with a total area of 566,100 and 36,200 hectares, respectively. In the West Bank, the average population density is approximately 4.14 capita / hectare and the total population is about 2.7 million inhabitants irregularly distributed across its eleven governorates [1], including Hebron which is the highest among the other governorates in terms of area and population. Recent assessments concluded that 38% of the Palestinian population is food insecure. In addition, 11% and 16% of the population in West Bank and Gaza Strip respectively, are vulnerable to food insecurity [2]. Increasing food production could be achieved either by increasing the agricultural productivity and/or expanding cultivable land [3]. Reclamation of the non-agricultural lands is considered as one of the most important mechanisms for expanding the cultivable lands and increasing the agricultural productivity [4]. Analyzing the land suitability for reclamation and development via GIS technique is considered to be the first necessary step to enhance the mechanism of decision making with relevance to the development of land not utilized for agricultural use by providing the required data and information to the decision-makers and technicians to reach the most proper decisions for the most appropriate utilization of this land. The main goal of this study is to provide an accurate guide for the unused lands in the Hebron governorate on its suitability for reclamation and the best usage of these lands for cultivation via GIS techniques. 2. Materials and Methods 2.1. Study Area The study covered all of the un-cultivated lands in Hebron Governorate (HG) which located in the southern part of the West Bank. The Governorate has an area of 106,700 hectares which comprising about 19% of the West Bank area [5]. The total agricultural land comprises about 30%; the un-cultivated land comprises about 62% while the artificial surface (i.e. built-up and different construction areas) comprises about 8%. 2.2. Tools, Materials and Methods The following tools, materials and methods were used: