FAO-OEA/CIE-IICA Working Group on Agricultural and Livestock Statistics for Latin America and the Caribbean (25th Session)

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,10-12 November 2009

Statistics Division

Global Strategy for the Improvement of Agricultural Statistics

Overview of the presentation

What is the global strategy? Why do we need a global strategy? Key components of the strategy Governance to meet strategic goals Worldwide consultation on the Strategy Capacity building and the way forward

What is the global the Global Strategy? An initiative of the United Nations Statistical Commission

(UNSC) = apex entity of the global statistical system; Partnership between International Agencies, developed and

developing countries 2 intergovernmental process for its adoption:

UNSC and National Statistical Offices FAO Governing Bodies and Ministries of Agriculture

Long-term plan to respond to the statistical needs of the 21st century (a living document)

Feasible and sustainable for developing countries Basis for a renewed initiative of capacity building in agricultural

statistics: mobilization of resources

Decisions of the 40th UN Statistical Commission A global strategy is needed to meet the increasing demand for

information at both the international and country levels; Agricultural and rural statistics are essential for policymaking

and Agricultural Ministries have an important role to play in the compilation of agricultural statistics;

FAO should lead the development of the global strategy, involving the Ministries of Agriculture through its governing bodies;

A Friends of the Chair group (FoC) is established to steer the process, with FAO and the United Nations Statistics Division serving as secretariat;

Friends of the Chair group to report back on the progress made to the UNSC at its 41st session.

Actions taken by FAO

Facilitating the creation of the Friends of the Chair group of the UN Statistical Commission

Working with partners to prepare the background document Organizing a series of meetings in which the new global

strategy on Agricultural Statistics will be reviewed

Members of the FoC Group of the UNSC

Brazil (chair) Australia China Cuba Ethiopia Italy Morocco Philippines Russian Federation Trinidad and Tobago Uganda USA

FAO (secretariat) UNSD (secretariat) EUROSTAT (observer) World Bank (observer)

Preparation of the background document ESS working closely with other international development

partners (World Bank, African Development Bank, EUROSTAT, PARIS21, UN Statistics Division, US Dept of Agriculture)

ESS coordinating input from all FAO Departments with substantial statistical work

A draft of the Global Strategy was discussed at a Satellite Meeting of the ISI, Maputo, 13-14 August 2009

Detailed review and validation of the Strategy by more than 100 Senior experts from all regions

A more strategic document explaining the process followed and the steps ahead of us is available for this meeting and will be discussed at the FAO Conference, 18-23 Nov. 2009

Seminar with FAO Permanent Representatives, Rome, 22 June 2009

Satellite Meeting of the ISI, Maputo 13-14 August 2009 FAO Regional Consultations (Bangkok, Accra, Rio de Janeiro) PARIS21 Consortium Meeting, Dakar, 16-18 November 2009 The FAO Conference, Rome, 18-23 November 2009 UN Statistical Commission, February 2010, for final endorsement Implementation plan of the Global Strategy will be prepared in

2010

Meetings to discuss the strategy

Why do we need a global strategy?

Basic data requirements are not met, especially in devel. countries

countries’ capacity in agricultural statistics declined since early ’80s declining resources allocated to agricultural statistics by countries

and development partners (low priority) Emerging data needs (impact of agr. on environment; investment

in agr.; biofuels; water and land use, etc.) Need of a new conceptual framework

Agricultural statistics not integrated in the National Statistical System

Lack of coordination between NSO & Min. of Agriculture National Statistical Plan do not cover agricultural stat.

Lack of sound basis for agricultural development and food security policy formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation

Response rates low & declining

--Percentage Response to FAO by region-- Region

Production Land use Machinery

Europe 66 71 64 Asia & Pacific 63 32 33 Americas 38 17 28

Africa 34 13 13 Near East 37 37

Current status of agricultural statistics

Declining number of countries reporting basic production

Loss of statistical capacity Agriculture left out of National Strategies for

Development of Statistics Duplicative efforts-conflicting numbers Forestry, fisheries outside national and agricultural

systems

Statistics current statusThe Dilemma – who does what?

National Statistics Offices Ministry – Departments of

Agriculture Land Management/Natural

Resources Agencies Marketing Boards/ Commissions Health, education agencies Development efforts by donors,

WB

Each Collects data for own usewith results that

do not alwaysagree – and limited

ability toshare data

Assessment of Agricultural Statistics

The assessment remains to be completed Need for a standard assessment framework

similar to the one used for the national statistical system

The scope of capacity building initiatives will depend on the assessment of the statistical system to meet the requirements of the global strategy

Data requirements andConceptual Framework

Menu of indicatorsMinimum set of“core-national”

Data items

Integrate Agriculture into

National statistics System

Methodology to Integrate

Agriculture

MasterSampleFrame

IntegratedData Base

Integrated SurveyFramework

Governance and Statistical Capacity Building

Key components of the Global Strategy

Conceptual Framework

Natural Environment,

(climate, soil, water)

Output andUtilization

Food, feed, seed,Fiber, Etc.

Inputs to Production

(labor, capital, land,

Feed, seed, Etc.)

Socio-economic,Political

(Households, holdings’enterprises

InstitutionalFramework

(Markets, governmentGlobal economy)

Outcomes andResults

(National income,Food security)

The production process(growing crops, raising livestock,

Fish capture, timber removals)

Conceptual Framework

Based on good understanding of the user requirements Provides a ‘roadmap’ for the development of Agr.

statistics. Not methodological guidance nor stipulate what should be produced by countries

Facilitates the integration, and therefore the comparability, of statistics

Components: Scope, Data elements, Organization, Coverage, Units and Classifications

Conceptual Framework: Components Scope: should cover not only economic but also social and

environmental dimensions; Data Items: linking items from different dimensions Organization: SNA for the economic statistics; SEEA for

environmental statistics; Social statistics? SAM? Wye Handbook?

Coverage: all activities within the scope of agricultural statistics without any cut-offs on the basis of size, importance, location etc.

Units: economic statistics = farm business; social statistics = household; environmental statistics = land parcel.

Classifications: ISIC = agricultural activities; CPC = agricultural commodities; ISCO = agricultural occupations; Classifications of land + forest cover and land use

Menu of Data Items

Meets basic and emerging requirements: Metadata to estimate each indicator, sources, Technical notes/ classifications, etc More than any one country can do annually

Shows where data are overlapping (crop production/ land/water use/ input use, etc.)

Determine a minimum subset of core all countries agree to provide annually

Evaluate national needs to select additional items, determine frequency

Choice of Core Data Items for International Reporting

About 15 major commodities account for over 95 percent of world production Production, prices, trade,--balances Value added, food security, productivity Land, water use Plus Forestry, aquaculture & fishery

Major economic variables Labor, household income, agricultural income inputs,

demographics, consumption

Additional Items for National Statistical System

Factors to determine inclusion of additional crops and livestock items. Ranking of items by: Percent of land/water use Percent value of production Percent of HH/enterprises producing Distributions by size Scale—affect on environment, climate Permanent or temporary

Census of Population

And Housing

AreaFrame/ classifiedBy land use viaRemote sensing

Rural HH

Farm HH

AgCensus

Master Sampling Frame

Primary SamplingUnits

Villages/clusters

SampleGridspoints

Geo reference

NonHouseholdEnterprises

CensusEnumeration

areas

Developing Master Sampling Frame

Annual Survey(s) core & NationalHousehold holdings & enterprises

Periodic surveys,(2-5 year cycles)

QuarterlySemi-

AnnualMonthly

Supply and utilization, income, &Environmental accounts,

Food Balances, etc.

CommunitySurveys

WindshieldSurveys

AdministrativeData

RemoteSensing

Agribusinesses

IntegratedData Bases

Integrated Data collection & Survey Framework

Integrated data bases

Data Warehouse of Official Macro Statistics Harmonized definitions and classifications Each item appear one time; i.e. one official number

for everything from population, GDP, to maize forecast or production.

Micro data—long term view Connect across surveys & over time Increase analytical capabilities

The governance challenge

How coordinate efforts of Ministries of Agriculture, National Statistical Offices, and others?

Who does what—Master sample frame, Integrated Survey Frame work, Integrated data base?

Starting point—form a Statistical Council Build off strengths of each stakeholder

Technical expertise Subject matter knowledge

The governance challenge

Role of national organizations Add agriculture (forestry and fisheries) to National

Strategies for Development of Statistics Focus fund raising on national statistical system

Role of international organizations Focus capacity building and support for statistics on

overall national statistical system Centers of excellence-statistics (e.g. remote sensing)

Role of Donors Work with Statistical Council instead of separate

sectors

Capacity Building Challenge

Building the basic statistical infrastructure (frames; master samples; etc.)

Education and training on statistical methodology, technology (GPS), remote sensing

Data analysis—how to use the data to answer policy questions?

Build a sustainable system

Areas needing further research

Crop yield forecasts and estimates Multi-cropping Root crops Use of remote sensing with ground truth

Sampling and survey methodology for integrated survey framework

Use of remote sensing to monitor land use-early warning capabilities

Geo referencing survey data with satellite digitized frame Multi-purpose statistical framework about the

interrelationships between the economy, environment and society for agriculture and rural development

Worldwide Consultation on the Strategy National input—Min of AG, National Statistical Offices & other

stakeholders Review and update National Strategies for Development of

Statistics International input from stakeholders

ISI Satellite meeting on agricultural statistics Global written consultation 4 Task Teams of the FOC to revise key parts of the document:

conceptual framework; menu of indicators; integrated survey framework; assessment framework

Develop final strategy for 2010 UNSC Develop Implementation Plan

Thank you for your attention!