(Item 9 in the Agenda)
52. The agribusiness sector could be defined in terms of the activities listed in the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) or the products classified in the Central Product Classification (CPC). Laying the foundation of ASIS on these classification systems would ensure a sound statistical system. The second practical challenge would relate to the extraction of agribusiness data from general industry statistics and its presentation on an internationally comparable and consistent basis. This would call for the development of standardized concepts, definitions and measures.
53. Manuals on measurement and valuation issues and methods for extracting agribusiness information from existing statistical systems should be prepared before ASIS is established. The prototype of ASIS may include information on production of agricultural commodities, area and average yields; agricultural trade; consumption and availability of inputs; prices of agricultural inputs and outputs; food processing industries, as such information is already being collected in many countries. Official statistics for these indicators seemed to have a high degree of international comparability. Several entrepreneurs were also disseminating primary and secondary agribusiness information through their websites. The immediate need was to collate data from diversified sources in a coherent framework to present a comprehensive picture of the Agribusiness Sector.
54. Given the limited resources of most developing countries, ASIS should be developed not as a fresh venture, but through networking and integration of existing government and private ventures. ASIS should be expected to be a dynamic web-based gateway to global information resources, but these resources should be selected, evaluated, described and indexed before being placed in the public domain. The emphasis on ASIS should be on quality, reliability and timeliness as in any other statistical program.
55. The Fertilizer Advisory, Development and Information Network for Asia and the Pacific (FADINAP) which was established in 1978 as an inter-agency network of ESCAP, FAO and UNIDO could provide a model for the proposed ASIS. Each member country designated a Technical Liaison Office (TLO) within the government setup; the TLO playing an advisory or policymaking role for FADINAP and was responsible for setting priorities for the action agenda. FADINAP worked with a network of National Fertilizer Information Centres (NFIS), which were either in the private sector or were industry associations.
56. Keeping in view the vast scope of the proposed ASIS and the prevailing decentralized statistical systems in many countries, it was averred that it could be expected that a country would have more than one Information Centre-participant in ASIS. Each Centre would function as the information node for a commodity or for a type of information. But one agency, preferably within the Government system, should be entrusted with coordinating responsibility and be designated as the National Information Centre. Potential agencies to be designated as nodal points for providing information could be government commodity boards. Commodity-based searches could be carried out by going to sites of various commodity Boards or agencies, which would in turn provide links to all other relevant sites. The ideal steps would be to: identify the Nodal Agency in each country; lay down the data dissemination standards (nature of data, output formats and frequency); lay down a policy of enlisting support on non-governmental agencies or parastatal agencies; request each country to put up standard data on their web sites for at least one or two commodities, which could be chosen per national priority; prepare metadata and link the websites of nodal agencies; and expand horizontally across commodities.
57. The Expert Consultation was informed that the scattered agribusiness information should be collated and integrated to present a holistic picture of the sector, as estimates of the contribution of this sector to the country’s GDP might not be available. Several government departments and parastatal agencies were already promoting various segments of agribusiness. To give a fillip to this sector, GOI had set up a Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium, mandated to catalyze agro-industrial growth; assisted in undertaking programmes for employment generation, growth or diversification of agriculture and agro-based industries; organized technology transfer through training and demonstration; and organized input and material supply. It was also promoting post harvest technology and marketing chains for domestic and export marketing
58. India’s statistical system, it was continued, was highly decentralized due to diversities in agro-climatic conditions, vast dimensions of coverage and the federal political system of the country. A vast amount of data was being collected and processed at State level and only the processed results were being sent to the Union level. The data collection efforts of federal governments were supplemented by national level survey agencies like the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) which collected data on many economic aspects including agriculture and industry. Much of these data including those on policies and programmes to promote agribusiness, were already available on the websites of the respective departments, aside from the media and other news services. Private sector initiative had also made available on a website several services including news and analysis, online trading including price arbitrage, auction and tender services, trade directories and commodity basics.
59. As some information system in the private and Government sector was already existing, it was pointed out that the strategy for ASIS should avoid duplication in efforts. The work plan for establishing ASIS should, in the beginning, focus on information which is useful for both government and private entrepreneurs. Information which serves the purpose of only the entrepreneurs should receive second priority in the governmental efforts but private efforts in this regard should be encouraged. The capabilities of national governments to provide information should also be considered. The data that could be included in the FAO database on Agribusiness Statistics immediately would include a range of information on agricultural trade, government trade policies, directories of trade associations and commodity boards, links to agribusiness websites and other statistical information relevant to agribusiness.
