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Sustainable Agriculture Extension Manual
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Integrated land-use design
Integrated land-use design enables institutions and groups to design and manage their land in a comprehensive manner. It involves looking at the functions of each element in the landscape (fields, crops, livestock, roads, buildings, waterways, etc), and planning them so they support each other. These plans are then converted into reality.
The integrated land-use design approach has been adapted for use with schools in Zimbabwe since 1989. Originally starting with two schools, the process is now used by 54. The Zimbabwe Institute of Permaculture and the Ministry of Education are jointly promoting the process. They see it as a useful and necessary tool to help schools plan and manage their grounds. The Ministry would like to see it become part of the whole school system over the next decade.
The description below assumes that a school is implementing the land-use design approach. However, the same approach could be used by other institutions or even by communities to plan their surroundings.
Advantages
- The approach leads to well thought-out, integrated land-use plans.
- It promotes a high level of involvement by all.
- It fills a gap and satisfies a need. School heads in Zimbabwe are encouraged to "beautify" and make productive use of their school grounds. But they are not sure how to go about this. The land-use design process is environmental education in practice.
- By fully involving parents, the process links schools and the surrounding community. The schools can become a focal point for promoting sustainable land use.
Disadvantages
- The process requires time, commitment and constant monitoring.
- Some government officials see the resulting abundant growth as messy.
Requirements
- Student, staff and parent representatives.
- A facilitator trained in land-use design. In Zimbabwe, two teachers from each participating school attend a 2-week course to be trained as facilitators in the process.
- Tools for marking contours, moving earth, preparing the soil, planting, etc.
- A nursery for plant material.
- Large sheets of paper and various colored pens.
- Colored oxides for marking the ground.
- Full support from the headmaster or headmistress.
- A camera to document achievements over time.
Procedure
1. Observe and assess
Use various participatory methods so the group of representatives of staff, students and parents get a thorough and common understanding of the existing situation. Suitable methods include: mapping, transects, problem trees, sector analysis, and defining the whole (who is directly involved, who is partially involved or has an interest, what finances are available or can be generated, and what assets are available).
2. Form holistic goals
The group forms a three-part vision for the school. First they discuss and agree upon their values as an institution. Then they decide what they must produce to achieve those values. Finally, they describe the future landscape needed to sustain this production. In this last part, they ask themselves what they want the school to look like in 25 years. They should consider various ecological components: water, soil, vegetation, and energy.
Parents, staff and students share information about the land by making a map on the ground and discussing its problems and potentials.
3. Design
This is the heart of the land-use design process. It uses these principles:
- Everything in the landscape is connected to everything else. An element should never be seen in isolation. It should be seen in terms of how it links to other elements. For example, a cow eats grass and produces manure, which can be used to fertilize the soil where the grass grows.
- Every element should serve many functions. For example, a tree may provide wood, fruit, shade and a place to hang a beehive. A road provides access to other parts of the site, but it also can be used to harvest water (see the section on the Keyline water-harvesting system).
- Every function should be served by many elements. Water can be harvested from roads, roofs and sports fields, and by keeping the ground covered with vegetation so the rain seeps in rather than running off.
Try to ensure as many beneficial connections as possible between the elements. The box on the next page describes three activities to help do this.
4. Action plans
The group draws up a simple plan of action to ensure the design is implemented properly. The group should plan for each year, and revisit the plan at least every month to check how it is going. Each year, the group develops objectives for the land-use management. It then draws up activities for each objective, assigns responsibilities for each activity among group participants, and states when they will carry them out (see the box on the next page for an example).
5. Monitoring 
The action plan in the previous stage provides one monitoring tool. Another, more subtle, one is based on the expectations and fears of the group. They list their expectations and fears, and then select three to five of them. For each one they choose, they develop a simple indicator which will show whether that particular expectation or fear is happening. The group chooses two observers who monitor the indicators and report back to the group.
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