We do this in catkin and it saves a lot of easy mistakes. Catkin simple could do the same.
What catkin says.
CMake Error at /opt/ros/hydro/share/catkin/cmake/catkin_package.cmake:112 (message):
catkin_package() 'catkin' must be listed as a buildtool dependency in the
package.xml
Call Stack (most recent call first):
/opt/ros/hydro/share/catkin/cmake/catkin_package.cmake:98 (_catkin_package)
/home/tfoote/work/trailmix/devel/share/catkin_simple/cmake/catkin_simple-extras.cmake:170 (catkin_package)
Redwood/3rdparty/gflags_catkin/CMakeLists.txt:34 (cs_export)