This internal working paper is prepared for
STAFF USE ONLY. The views expressed are
not necessarily those of the World Bank.
AGREP Division Working Paper
0o. 100
STUDYING LAND USE PROBLENS
An Outline
A. Sfeir-Younis and J. McKenna
Economics and Policy Division
Agriculture and Rural Development Department
April 1985


PREFACE
This outline is the second in the issues (see AGREP Division
Working Paper No. 48).
The main objective of this outline is to provide analysts with a
check list of items for consideration when dealing with land use related
issues. There are perhaps several other topics that should have been added
to the list. However, we believe that the overall presentation will
provide a good starting point for those familiar with the subject of this
outline.


Table of Contents
Page No.
Memorandum from A. Sfeir-Younis and J. McKenna
to D.C. Pickering (March 4, 1985)
Introduction  ........................                ....
Analytical Framework ........a.me..................... 5
Defining a New Program ..#a......Nr.........   ........ 7
Projectiziag the Strategy ...re...................... 9
Implementation Guidelines ............n............... 10
Financial and Economic Evaluation .................... 11


AN OUTLINE
by A. Sfeir-Younis and J. McKenna
I. Introduction
SPATIAL DIMENSIONS OF LAND AND POPULATION
* General Economic Statistics
* Economi- Structure and Growth
* Land in the iational Economy
* Population Characteristics
- General Population Characteristics
- Spatial Distributions
- Education, qealth, etc.
* Resource and Environmental Characteristics
- Topography and Climate
- River Basins
- Soils
- Forests
- Wildlife
- Protected Areas
- Water Resources
* National Conservation Plan
* Natural Resources Management in the Country
- Political and Administrative Structure
- Planning Process
- Government Agencies
- Non-Government Organizations
* Major Country's Environmental Issues
* Rural Land Use Related Issues
ALTERNATIVE CLASSIFICATION OF THE LAND
* Present System
- Characteristics of the System
- Comparisons with Other Systems
* Where Has the Present System Been Applied
- The Institutional Framework
- Record of Implementation
- Main Outcomes
- How Is Being Applied in Practice
o Who Is in Charge
o At What Level Is This Applied
o Adoption of Existing Standards


PRESENT LAND USE PATTERNS
* An Overview
- International Characteristics
o Agriculture
o Urban
o Other uses
- Land Use within the Agricultural Sector
o Area-based Assessment
o Intrasectoral-based Assessment
0 Crop-based Assessment
o Other Elements
- Ecological Zone View of Land Use
o Climate Based
o Soil Based
O Hydrological Based: Watersheds
o Other Units of Account
* Land Use Patterns vs Historical Developments
- Detecting Major Changes
Use of Prime Agricultural Land
a Pasture and Rangeland
* Forests
* Use of Marginal Lands
* Wildlands and Reserves
- Analysis and Interpretation of Changes
* Population/Demographic Factors
a Social/Institutional Factors
8 Legal Factors
o Macroeconomic Policies and Incentives Related Factors
* Summary of Major Trends
LAND TENURE AND PROPERTY RIGHTS
* Land Tenure Systems
- Private Sector Farming
* Where
* Magnitude
* How: Characterization of the System
- Public Sector
* Where
* Magnitude
* How: Characterization of the System
- Communal/Other Sector
o Where
o Magnitude
* How: Characterization of the System
- Supply Response/Shifts: Ristorical View
* Major Determinants of Shifts
* Law and Enforcement
Congruency of Different Systems


-3-
* Property Ripts!
- An OveL7.w
- Formal and Informal Rights
- Enforcement of Rights
- Socioeconomic Foundations of Land and Rights
- Land Registration
PRODUCTION SYSTEMS
* A Typology(ies) of Farming Systems
- Characterizing the Typology
* Elements of the Typology
o Basic Rational
o Uses if this Typology
- Advantages and Limitations
* Production-based Systems: Crops/Livestock
* Technology-based Systems
- Basic
- Intermediate
- Ad%anced
- Basic Elements Determining the Transition
* Ecologically-based System
* Others
* Performance of These Systems
- Defining Performance
* The Productivity Approach
o The Ecological Approach: Sustainability
- Presentation of Actual Performance
COMPETITION FOR LAND
* Land as a Factor of Production
- Intersectoral Competition for Soil and Water
o Competitive Uses of Soils
o Competitive Uses of Water
- Major Soil and Water Balances
* A National Perspective
* A Regional Perspective
- Areas Where Violation of the Critical Zone Has Taken
Place
o Identifying Major Areas; for Soil (e.g., Nutrients)
and Water (e.g., Water Ouality, Conjunctive Uses)
* Explanation of the Phenomena
* Land as a Natural Resource
- Renewability
- Non-renewability
- Conservation Decisions
- Private and Public Conflicts
* Land as a National Asset
- Degradation and Irreversibility
- Areas Where another Use is Possible
- MajoT Ouestions of National Security


-'4-
* Identifying Inter- and Intra-sectoral Problems
- Country and Regional Assessment
- Identification of Major Negative Trade-offs
MAJOR ISSUES REGARDINGY LAND USE
* The Ecological Viev
- Ecological Scarcity
- Soil and Water Quality Standards
 Matching Land Use with the Land
* Ideal Standards vs Actual Land Use
* Legal or Socioeconomic Constraints
- Land Suitability and Land Capability
- Land Suitability Classification
- Relation of Ideal Change to Wider Context
* The Economic View
- Comparative Advantage
- Scarcity and Productivity
- Otimal Path
- Estimation of Benefits and Inputs
- Calculation of Land Suitability in Economic Terme
- Economic Land Suitability Classification
* Ecological and Economic Trade-offs
- Assessment of Environmental Impact
- Defining the Trade-offs
- Major Issues and Alternatives
* The Social View
- Methods of Social Data Issues
- Assessment of Social Consequences of Land Use
Alternatives
* Land Use Planning vs Development Planning
- Degree of Integration
- Economic Policy and Conservation
- Location as a Land Ouality
* Technical Issues
* Organizational Issues
*  Inevitutional Issues
* Incentives Issues
* Intergenerational Eaulty Issues
* Policy Issues
* How Do We Get Where We Want To Go


-5-
II. Analytical Framework
A NEW UNIT OF ACCOUNT
* Alternative Units of Account
- The Farm and Farming Systems
- The Physical.Factors-based Systems
- The Watershed
* The Watershed as a Unit of Account
- Why Watersheds?
- Characteristics of Watersheds and the Land Use Problems
- Limitations of the Approach
ASSESSMENT OF EXISTING WATERSHEDS
* Name and Location of Major Watersheds
* Characterization of These Watersheds
* Criteria for Assessment
- Land Evaluation and Land Use Suitability
- Ecological Criterion
- The Economic Criterion
- Reconciling These Criteria
* Global Assessment
* Major Conflicts and Sources of Conflicts in Land Use
- Investment
- Policy
- Role of Institutions
* Cause/Effect Relationships
- A Technical View
- An Economic View
- A Social View
* Potential Benefits and Costs
- Benefit/Cost of Present Land Use
- Benefit/Cost of Alternative Strategies
o A Qualitative Analysis
O Identifying interventions
COUNTRY EXPERIENCE IN CHANGING LAND USE PATTERNS
* A Historical Terspective
- Where and When Change Took Place
- Interpreting Those Changes
- Motivating Factors
* The Law
* Policy Environment
o Spontaneous Changes
- Perceive Impacts and Cor.fl.-ts of Those Changes
- Time Taken for Those Changes to Materialize
* Selection of Instruments for Changing Land Use
- Legal Instruments
o Scope
o Replicability
- Economic Instruments
o Policy Instruments: Identification
* Effectiveness
a Benefit/Cost to the Economy


ALTERNATIVE MEANS TO A NEW PATTERN OF LAND USE
* Definition of Means
- Formal Means
- Informal Means
* Identifying Major Agents of Change
- The Private Sectori Supply Response to Market
Conditions
- The Public Sector: Market Failures
- The Community at Large
* Necessary Organizational Arrangements
- The Concept of River Basins Development Authorities
(RBDA)
- Advantages and Disadvantages
- Necessary Institutional and Organizational Reforms
o Criteria for Reforms (e.g., Audio Fragmented
Interventions)
* Costs and Benefits
EXISTING PROGRAMS, DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIES
* Programs Relating to Land Use
- Type of Programs
- Performance of Programs
- Sources of Success and Failure
* Relationships of Programs and Development in Practice
- Is Land Use an Important Determinant of Global
Development Programs
- Assessment of Experience
* Development Objectives
- Environmental Objectives and Means
o Major Outline
o DefinitioG and Scope
* Assessment
- Economic and Social Objectives
* Major Outline
o Definition and Scope
o Assessment
* Development Constraints
- Defining Major Constraints
- Cultural Constraints
- Economic and Social Constraints
- Physical and Technical Constraints
- Obstacles due to Weakness in Social Structure
Institutional Administration
- Social Affects
- Assessment
- Identifying a Critical Path
o Where Should the Country Move First (e.g., Investments
and Policies)
o Step-by-step Approach
* Development Strategies
- Alternative Strategies
o Investment Opportunities
o Desinvestment Opportunities
0 Policy Changes
- Country and Regional Assessmett


-7-
III. Defining the New Program
DISCLOSING COUNTRY'S AND RANK'S OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIES
* Country's Development Objectives and Strategies
- The Macroeconomic Level
- The Regional Level
- The Spatial View of Those Objectives
- Note of the Agricultural Sector and Subsectors (defining
where land fits inro the above)
* Bank's Development Objectives and Strategies
- Bank's Environmental Policies
s In General
o In Relation to Land Use
- Rank's Agricultural Sector Policies
o In General
i In Relation to Country
* Bank/Country Policy Dialogue
- Main Areas of Concern
- Principal Actions
* Evalcating Policy Interventions
- In Economic Terms
- In Terms of Land Use
* Identifying Conflicts and Alternative Courses of Action
- The Investment Aspects
- The Financial Aspects
- The Policy Aspects
- The Political Aspects
CONDITIONS TO GET WHERE WE WANT TO GO
* Definition of Goals Regarding Land Use
- Main Targets
- Acceptable Standards
- Trends we have to live with
* Identifying Most Effective Instruments
- Investment Related
- Policy Related
- Financial Related
- Other Elements
DEFINITION OF AN ACTION PROGRAM
* Defining a Feasible Package
- Components of the Package
- Establish.ng a Rational
- Step-by-step Approach
- A Suitable Timttable
* Policy Conditionality
- Nature of Policy Environment
- Key Policy Instruments
- Necessary Policy Changes
* General
* Effects on Natural Resources Management
- Conditionality: The "Carrot and the Stick"


-8-
RESOURCE MBILIZATION AND BANK'S ROLE
* Financial Dimensions of the Program
- Assessing Fir.ncial Needs
- Fiscal Impacts and Fiscal Keforms
o Sources and Uses of Lands
B Bank/Country Share of Program's Costs
o Public Expenditure Patterns
Fiscal Reforms
* Disbursement Related Issues
- Schedule of Disbursement
- Action Programs
k       Financial Formulae
- Interezt Rates
- Subsidies
- Merit Wants Type of Components
- Grant-in-aid
* Strategy for Monitoring Actions
* ilements that Could Be Monitored
- Framework for Monitoring
* Role of the Public and Private Sectors
MONITORING AND EVALTATIOt OF THE PROGRAM
* Nature of the Mcaitoring Systet ,
- Monitoring.Implementation:. The Project's Component
Approach
- Monitoring Effectiveness of Interventions and of
instrument:
* Nature of the Evaloation System
- What to Evaluate
- When to Evaluate
- How to Evaluate
* Data Collection
o Data Processing
o Data Presentation
* Report Writing
- Row Much Data is Enough
* The Comprehensive View
o The Simplified View


-9-
IV. Projectizing the Strategy
BASIC COMPONENTS OF AN ACTION PROGRAM
* Project Rational
- As It Relates to Country Strategy
- As It Relates to Proposed Program
- Time Slice Approach
* Project Components
- Sumarized Presentation
- Detailed Presentation
- Productive Components
- Social Components
ORGANIZATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS
* Organizing Principles
Organizational Reforms
- Intersectoral Reforms
- Intrasectoral Reforms
* Role of Beneficiaries
- Participation
- Financing
- Sustainability
* Agencies Involved
- National Agencies
- Sectoral Agencies
- New Agencies
INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS
* Market Institutioas
- The Market
- Prices and Pricing Issues
- Taxes and Subsidies
- Financing
- Others
* Non-market Institutions
- Property Rights
- Land Tenure
- Eminent Domain and Others
- Law, Rules and Regulations


V. Imolementation Guidelines
RATIONAL FOR ESTABLISHING GUIDELINES
*  The Sector-wide Nature of the Progrom
- Risks in Being Too Inflexitle with Packages
- Large Number of Interventions
- It is a Concept Approach
* The Regional-Wide Nature of the Problem
- Natural Resources Do Not Respect Political Boundaries
- Avoidance of Fragmentatior
o At the Resource Level
o At the Administracive Level
- Consistency wit., the Unit of Account
* The Need to Program Interventions
- Compatibility with Land Tenure
- The Packages Are More Important Than Individual
Components (e.g., The total is larger than the sum of
its parts)
* Nature of the Guidelines
- Criteria for Selecting Watersheds
- Criteria for Defining Instrumints
- Criteria for Assessing Action Plans


VI. Financial and Economic Evaluation
TYPOLOGY OR EFFECTS
* Upstream Effects
* Downstream Effects
* Economy-wide Effects
IDENTIFICATION OF BENEFITS AND COSTS
* Without the Projects
- Present
- Future
* With the Projects
QUANTIFICATION AND MONETARY VALUATION OF BENZFITS AND COSTS
SENSITIVITY AND RISK ANALYSIS
ANALYSIS OF MAJOR IMPACTS
THE COUNTRY'S AND THE FARMER'S VIEW OF THE STRATEGY