A mistake in early attempts at land-use planning was to focus too narrowly on
land resources without enough thought given to how they might be used.
Good agricultural land is usually also suitable for other competing uses. Landuse
decisions are not made just on the basis of land suitability but also
according to the demand for products and the extent to which the use of a
particular area is critical for a particular purpose. Planning has to integrate
information about the suitability of the land, the demands for alternative
products or uses and the opportunities for satisfying those demands on the
available land, now and in the future.
Therefore, land-use planning is not sectoral. Even where a particular plan is
focused on one sector, e.g. smallholder tea development or irrigation, an
integrated approach has to be carried down the line from strategic planning
at the national level to the details of individual projects and programmes at
district and local levels