Detailed land use planning for agricultural improvements requires, amongst other inventory data, good information about the land use and the topography. Part of the study of the potential of the Borkena area was the ground survey of land use.

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After small-scale reconnaissance surveys (examples: precipitation, temperature), the next step for land evaluation and land use planningis a detailed survey of the natural ressources (climate, soils, agro and socioeconomy, infrastructure) to assess the potential and need of the area (land suitability, carrying capacity etc). In this example of 'Borkena' (project phase 2) the land use was described spatially by geomorphological units. The land evaluation models were carried out through the GILES database and GIS software. (Source of this map: Land Use in Borkena, by Boerwinkel, FAO).