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Satellite Accounts for Agribusiness

(Item 4 of the Agenda)

10. The document on satellite accounts for agribusiness would refer to the detailed articulation of agribusiness within the framework of the system of national accounts. The Expert Consultation was informed that if agribusiness would refer to the production and other transactions of agriculture and related activities, it would imply that the satellite account would have to articulate this in more detail within the framework of the SNA.

11. Satellite accounts had been incorporated into the SNA to meet specific needs of analysis focusing on a particular sector, in this case, agribusiness. Within the framework, several indicators could be derived in addition to indicators that would describe temporal changes. The various accounts in the satellite accounts would allow for formulation of indicators that would provide insights on the role of agribusiness in the economy and the various transactions within agribusiness.

12. The compilation of national accounts required a wide range of basic data. However, most countries had already institutionalized national accounts compilation and thus had put in place the basic statistics for compilation although there remain many gaps in some cases. In the compilation of satellite accounts for agribusiness, additional data would be needed, which might not now be regularly available. While there are current statistics on agriculture, corporations, quasi corporation and households, they might not be disaggregated to suit agribusiness monitoring and analysis. National statistical organizations interested in developing agribusiness satellite accounts would need to expand their statistical data collection programs.

13. It was pointed out that the compilation of satellite account for agribusiness could provide valuable information for analysis, evaluation and monitoring. Moreover, as a satellite account based on the central framework of the SNA, it would show the linkage of agribusiness to the total economy. The framework of an agribusiness satellite account would also provide a useful model for planning and programming future development of statistics for agribusiness. The framework was an initial attempt to conceptualize the agribusiness satellite accounts. To make it more relevant to suit requirements of individual countries, additional national and regional discussion fora should be organized to highlight key issues, which could include what it would be intended for, who would be using the accounts and further articulation of the detailed components of the satellite account that should be consistent with national development plans and programs. These discussions should eventually lead to the formulation of medium term statistical development programmes to support the promotion and development of agribusiness.


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