Sound land-use planning is a necessity in the Region because of the competition for resources between various sectors of the Region's economy: agriculture, urban, industry, and tourism. FAO advocates an integrated approach to land-use planning in order to achieve sustainable land use that serves the interests of local communities, as well as the environment. To this end, the RNE Soils Sub-Programme initiated work on the establishment of a soils database for the Region, which will help document and assess the soil resources inventories. The RNE Soils Sub-programme is keen to encourage the countries of the Region to join the FAO Global Gateway for Land Resources Information System (LRIS); and to make use of such information at the desk-top of Soils professionals, planners and decision makers to ensure sustainable and integrated landuse planning.

Strengthening regional co-operation and collaborative work continues to be a priority, and the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Land and Water is one vehicle for promoting complimentarity of resources and joint activities. RNE and WHO, with assistance from the IATF, published a Manual in Arabic and English on "Wastewater Reuse for Irrigation"; and the "Regional Network on Reuse of Wastewater for Irrigation” was launched in 2001.

In response to requests from Member Countries, the RNE Land and Water Programme took the initiative to assess the Drought Impact in the Region.

Fertilizer application continues to be the single most  important agricultural input, and could claim 25% of the production cost for irrigated wheat. Mineral fertilizers play an important role in enhancing agricultural production (over 55% according to FAO). The majority of the Region's 29 countries now face a food gap (cereals), although the Near East was food self-sufficient in the 1960's. Therefore, evaluating the role of fertilizers, in terms of crop response to plant nutrients addition, rates of fertilizers use, types/formulations, consumption, production and trade, all need all to be documented and regularly updated. In RNE, a nucleus of regional databases on fertilizers statistics and information has been established.

To attain this goal, the RNE Soils sub-programme took the initiative to produce an "amended version", in Arabic and English, of the "International Fertilizers Association/IFA World Fertilizer Use Manual". With the IFA endorsement; it is hoped that such an updated and amended version would be better suited to agricultural and agronomic conditions and practices in the Near East.