Implementing Integrated Land Use Planning: A step-by-step guide for rural areas
PRACTITIONER’S GUIDE: STEP 4
PART 2
4.1.3. Task forces and data needs at sub-national level
As discussed in Step 3, Task Forces at the sub-national level (districts, regions, provinces) require strong support from technical experts working within a multi-disciplinary team. These experts must be able to:
• Define the information needs specific to the territory and the planning exercise
• Analyze and interpret available data and statistics
• Assess data reliability and identify critical gaps
• Determine when additional studies are needed and, if so, prepare specifications, budgets, timelines, and other requirements.
The need for new studies is often significant, as in many countries existing thematic data for sub-national planning are inadequate. The type of additional information required will depend on the nature of the gaps and the objectives of the specific planning project.
Broadly, data needs can be grouped into two categories: information about the land and information about land users.
In essence, the same thematic data required at the national level are also needed here—but at a greater level of detail to support more localized planning decisions.
4.1.3.1. Land-related themes
Examples of useful data related to biophysical characteristics of land are given in Table 4.
Table 4. Typical land-related themes and data needed at sub-national level
| Theme | Recommended data |
| Climate | Weather station data (averages and time series), major climate parameter maps (precipitation, temperature, sunshine, relative humidity, windspeed), climatic hazards (drought,frost, hail, etc.), climate change projections |
| Soil resources | Soil maps at scales 1:100,000 – 1:250,000 with documentation of properties of relevance to land suitability (depth, texture, drainage, fertility parameters, etc.) |
| Topography | Topographical maps with elevation contour intervals 10-20 m; DEM with 100-250 m pixel size |
| Water resources | Water courses, lakes, swamps, marshlands, groundwater reserves, temporal and spatial availability for sustainable use, flood risks |
| Mineral/geological resources | Mines, mineral extraction sites, quarries, clay/sand pits, oil/gas exploitations. |
| Land use/cover, protected areas | Hierarchical classification of land cover (e.g. LCCS) or land use systems with subdivisions to a level meaningful for the land use planning exercise. |
| Infrastructure | Built-up areas, roads, railways, power plants and transmission lines, airports, harbours, dams, canals, water purification stations, telecommunication towers. |
4.1.3.2. Land Use and Management
At the sub-national level, more specific information is needed about how land users manage the land. The concept of Land Utilization Types (LUTs), introduced in the FAO Framework for Land Evaluation, is widely recognized as particularly suitable for planning at this level.
Definition
A Land Utilization Type (LUT) is a land use defined in terms of the products, the inputs and operations required to produce these products, and the socio-economic setting in which production takes place (FAO, 1976).
The LUT description format is structured around a set of attributes that characterize production systems and their main activities. A typical example of such a format is presented in Table 5. One of the key advantages of using LUT descriptions is that they can be progressively refined and supplemented with quantitative detail by combining different sources of information—ranging from documented studies to interviews with land users.
Table 5. Typical checklist for outline description of land utilization types (adapted from Dent &Young, 1981)
| Attribute | Typical categories |
| Produce | • Goods: e.g. kinds of crops, meat, dairy products, timber, charcoal • Services: e.g. tourist recreation, wildlife conservation |
| Market orientation | • Subsistence • Subsistence-commercial mix: e.g. variable sales of surplus production • Commercial |
| Capital intensity Qualitatively | • Low: can be borne by the land user, e.g. stone clearing • Medium: can be borne by the land user if credit is available, e.g. open drains • High: requires long-term credit or government funding, e.g. major reclamation works • Very high: can only be funded through government intervention, e.g. major irrigation scheme |
| Capital intensity Quantitatively (e.g. costs per ha) | • Capital investment: for non-recurring costs e.g. drainage or anti-erosion works • Recurring input costs e.g. seeds, fertilizers, plant protection, ploughing etc. |
| Labour intensity QualitativelyQuantitatively | • High, medium, low • Person-months per hectare |
| Power source | • Human labour • Animal power with human labour • Partial mechanization • Full mechanization |
| Management Crops | • Land preparation, including clearance, ploughings, soil conservation • Cultivars • Planting practices, including nurseries, transplanting, timing of planting • Fertilizer application: timing and methods of application • Weeding: timing, methodsCrop protection practices e.g. spraying • Harvesting; for perennials, including frequency and timing • Processing |
| Management Forests | • Sylvicultural practices: planting methods, spacing, thinnings, weeding and pruning, fertilization, plant protection, length of rotation, regeneration of desired species in natural forests • Harvesting technology, need for road construction, conservation needsProtection against fire, illegal logging, need for flora and fauna conservation |
| Management Livestock | • Livestock intensity • Mobility (nomadism, transhumance, sedentary) |
| Productivity | • Crops: yields per ha; production from a farm of specified cultivated area • Livestock: meat/milk output in kg/ha • Forestry: estimated annual timber increments in m3/ha |
| Advisory services | • No access • Some access • High level of access |
| Land holdings | • Size: range of typical farms, ranches, forest plantations, etc. • Configuration: fragmented or contiguous |
| Land tenure | • Private: family or corporate ownership • Tenancy: cash rent, labour tenancy, sharecropping • Communal: cooperative, village land, common landState ownership |
4.1.3.3. Information Needs on the Land Users
At the sub-national level, gaining a deeper understanding of the land users and other stakeholders involved in planned land use or management changes is essential. This builds on the initial work carried out in Step 2 by the Coordinating Unit and now becomes the responsibility of the Task Force.
At this stage, Stakeholder Analysis goes beyond identification. It requires a detailed inventory of the following:
• Stakeholder categories: men/women, rich/poor, young/old, levels of education; landowners/landless; managers, staff, trade unions, cooperatives
• Stakeholder location: rural/urban; local/distant
• Stakeholder functions: producers/consumers; traders/suppliers/competitors; regulators, policy-makers, activists, influencers
• Stakeholder characteristics: interests, power, control over resources, knowledge and information, forms of organization or representation, barriers to participation, influence and motivation in decision-making, including expectations, potential gains, and willingness to participate and invest resources
• Conflicts among stakeholders (explored further in Step 6)