(Item 4 of the Agenda)
(Item 4a of the Agenda)
21. Three documents were introduced under Agenda Item 4a. The Secretary of the Commission introduced the document APCAS/06/3, "Overview of FAO's Activities in Food and Agricultural Statistics during 2004-2006 in the Asia and Pacific Region". The Commission appreciated the efforts and contribution of FAO in the area of development of agricultural statistics in the region during the last two years.
22. The Secretary made the Commission aware of the conclusions of the FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific (APRC) held in Jakarta, Indonesia from 15 to 19 May 2006 and their data related implications, particularly those relating to monitoring MDGs and strategies for reducing vulnerability of the population to natural disasters.
23. The Secretary further informed the Commission that during the last biennium the two main priorities for FAO Statistics Division had been: (i) the modernization of FAOSTAT and (ii) the preparation of the new World Programme for the Census of Agriculture 2010, for the censuses to be carried out during 2006-2015.
24. The Commission noted the improved format and design of the new FAO Statistical Yearbook which was a consolidation of earlier series of FAO yearbooks on production, trade, fertilizers, forest products and fisheries. The two printed volumes and the CDs of the new Yearbook were released in 2005. The Commission also appreciated the usefulness of the annual regional publication "Selected Indicators of Food and Agriculture Development in Asia-Pacific Region".
25. The Commission commended the initiative of the FAO Statistics Division to establish a metadata database of national agricultural statistics systems of the member countries.
26. The Secretary made the Commission aware of the guiding considerations and the process that went into the preparation of the World Programme for the Census of Agriculture 2010 (WCA 2010) which had been released for use by the countries towards the end of 2005. In particular, the Commission appreciated that the new Programme responded to the challenge faced by countries to collect data on a wide range of subjects with limited budget. Despite the enlarged scope of the new Programme, it provided the countries with the flexibility needed for designing the agricultural census that met their needs and fit into the available budget. Key structural data was restricted, however, to only 16 items.
27. The Commission was pleased to note that FAO Statistics Division continued to maintain a close cooperation with UN and other International Organizations involved in food and agricultural statistics in the Asia and Pacific region and in the world.
28. The Commission reviewed the activities of FAO in the area of statistics relating to forestry and fishery sectors.
29. The Commission noted the continued efforts of FAO for building capacity in the region for enhancing the level of analysis of statistics and for undertaking census
and surveys. The Secretary informed that a Roundtable Meeting on Programme for the 2010 Round of Censuses of Agriculture was held in Bangkok, Thailand from
28 November to 2 December 2005. FAO also organized anExpert Consultation on Analysis and Dissemination of Census and Survey Data Bangkok, Thailand, during 18_21 July 2005.
30. The Commission noted the information on the operational and pipeline projects under which technical assistance was provided to the countries or was planned to be provided in the near future.
31. Document No. APCAS/06/4, "The New Release of FAOSTAT and Developments in CountrySTAT" was presented to delegates by Mr Robert Mayo. The presentation highlighted that the new FAOSTAT (i) provided a stable and reliable technical environment (software and hardware); (ii) improved the quality of the data by providing robust tools for compiling, validating, estimating and analyzing data; (iii) enhanced data integrity by ensuring that appropriate methodologies, metadata and data standards were consistently applied and made available to users; (iv) developed integrated frameworks and consistent statistical systems for the collection, production, consolidation and organization of selected data into the modules and conceptual frameworks that constituted the FAOSTAT statistical system; (v) improved user access to FAOSTAT data by enhancing and creating new mechanisms for data dissemination, in particular to provide access to data across domains; and (vi) incorporated new user requirements for system functionality and access to new data sets.
32. The Commission congratulated the FAO on the achievements and new developments in FAOSTAT.
33. An introduction to, and recent developments in, CountrySTAT were presented to delegates. The successful testing of CountrySTAT in 2005 with national statistical offices was reported. The ongoing CountrySTAT projects in conjunction with the joint Food Security Project of FAO and EC was reported as well as the implementation of CountrySTAT in the Philippines, with regional versions of CountrySTAT being under development in UEMOA (West African Economic and Monetary Union) and AOAD (Arab Organization for Agricultural Development). The delegates welcomed the developments in CountrySTAT.
34. Mr Minamiguchi, Vulnerability Analysis Coordinator, Asia FIVIMS Trust Fund Project GCP/RAS/170/JPN, presented document APCAS/06/5 _ "Identification of Areas and Populations Vulnerable to Food Insecurity". He reported on the applications of subnational level food security indicators and household socio-economic survey data for identifying vulnerable groups and areas in Cambodia, the Philippines,
Sri Lanka and Thailand. Advanced statistical analysis techniques, namely, principal components and non-hierarchical clustering analyses, were utilized to produce vulnerable group profiles. However, systematic errors, inconsistencies and discrepancies were found in a survey data set, thereby making it necessary to first remove `statistical noises' from the data set before undertaking vulnerability assessment. It was suggested that national statistical agencies conduct logical tests on survey and census data before official release.
35. In addition to the vulnerable group profiles, vulnerability indices were calculated in Sri Lanka for each of the four food security analysis categories, i.e. food availability, food accessibility and affordability, health and nutritional status of people, and other food security and vulnerability related proxy variables. The indices were then grouped by district for the whole island and by DS division for Monaragala District using equal interval and natural break classifications, respectively. The results of the analysis revealed the different dimensions of vulnerability that people had faced even in the same regions where interventions and policies were carefully elaborated. Results also showed the need to conduct vulnerability analysis at lower geographic levels in order to minimize `inclusion and exclusion' problems. As output FIVIMS maps could be presented in different ways depending on the types of classification methods, guidance on the use of FIVIMS information was being prepared by the FIVIMS Technical Committee in Sri Lanka to assist FIVIMS information users at the decision and policy-making level to better understand the strengths and limitations of the vulnerability study, properly interpret the outputs of the analysis, and make rational decisions accordingly.
36. The Commission noted that there might be different concepts used in various countries for the same data item in FAOSTAT. This difference made it difficult for international comparison. Users had thus to pay attention to the relevant metadata provided along the data published.
37. The Commission pointed out that the reliability of data included in FAOSTAT was dependant on the source of data used by member countries for reporting the figures to FAO. In this regard, the Commission stressed that in the process of data production, the pre-test and pilot of surveys and censuses were a major factor. It was recommended that technical assistance be provided to countries to build or enhance their capacity in conducting agricultural surveys or census, including the related
pre-tests.
38. The Commission noted that for the identification of vulnerable areas, a district might not always be an appropriate study unit. Countries could decide on the suitable administrative or geographic unit for the vulnerability analysis purpose, depending on the national situation.
(Item 4b of the Agenda)
39. The Commission was informed of the progress of the Regional Data Exchange System (RDES) through Document APCAS/06/6, "Progress Report on FAO/Japan Project GCP/RAS/184/JPN _ Strengthening Regional Data Exchange System of Food and Agricultural Statistics in Asia and Pacific Countries".
40. The Commission was reminded that sixteen developing member countries participated in the project and that these countries had made several suggestions to attain the objectives of the project during the fourth meeting of Focal Points in Bangkok, Thailand in October 2005.
41. The Commission noted that data pertaining to harvested area, production and yield for major crops as well as number of livestock were loaded in RDES, following standardized units, item definition, table formats and others. It was reported that
the RDES also contained information related to ongoing FAO activities, links to statistical websites in food and agricultural statistics in Asia and Pacific region. Therefore, the RDES had been developing not only as a database but also a portal website (http://www.faorap-apcas.org) for APCAS countries, whether participating in the RDES project or not.
42. The Commission was informed that the Project would develop and strengthen the database function with CountrySTAT as a core software of RDES. This pilot version of the new RDES was demonstrated to the Commission.
43. The Commission was informed by some member countries that the RDES project (GCP/RAS/184/JPN) and the ASEAN project "ASEAN Food Security Information System" (AFSIS) often had two different focal points, which weakened the needed coordination between the two Projects and added to the response burden of countries. The Commission noted that a linkage between RDES and AFSIS would avoid duplication of efforts and enhance the quality of work.
44. The Commission was informed that there was a need to expand the data items covered in each RDES country. The new data items were needed to share the experience of countries in monitoring poverty and development. Also, the Commission noted that there had been an increasing demand for subnational data. The role played by RDES in this regard was appreciated. However, there might still be a need for further improving RDES data. The Commission recommended that countries expand their capacity building to subnational level, even if the RDES project itself contributed only to the national level capacity building.
45. The Commission was informed that Japan, as the donor of the Project, appreciated the efforts of member countries and FAO for efficient implementation of the Project, and requested a close coordination with AFSIS. Involvement of FAO as an international organization with knowledge and experiences in AFSIS would benefit the countries. The Commission was reminded that the sustainability of RDES as
a regional database in Asia and the Pacific was very important. Japan expressed that they would continue the contribution in the field of statistical activities on food and agriculture. The details of the next steps and the nature of contribution were under consideration.
46. The Commission was advised that the Fifth RDES Focal Points meeting would be held in the middle of March 2007 to review project activities.
(Item 4c of the Agenda)
47. Document APCAS/06/7 _ "Introduction of the International Handbook on Rural Household, Livelihood and Well-Being: Statistics on Rural Development and Agriculture Household Income" was presented. The Commission was informed that this handbook was an initiative of the Inter-Secretariat Working Group on Agricultural and Rural Indicators (IWG.AGRI) which was composed of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), EUROSTAT, FAO, and OECD. The IWG.AGRI established the task force on Statistics for Rural Development and Agriculture Household Income, in 2003. The task force prepared a draft of the handbook which was reviewed and endorsed by the Joint UNECE/EUROSTAT/FAO/OECD Meeting on Agricultural Statistics in Europe, in Rome, in 2005.
48. The Commission was informed that the handbook had two parts: Rural Development Statistics; and Agriculture Household Income and Wealth. The handbook contained mostly experiences and best practices in developed countries. It noted that the handbook was available on the Web pages of UNECE and FAO. A limited number of hard copies would be published in 2007.
49. In the round table discussion that followed the presentation, the Commission appreciated that FAO and the World Bank were in the process of documenting experiences in developing countries as a supplement to the original handbook. In this regard, the Commission noted that the work done by the World Bank under the Poverty Analysis Data Initiative (PADI) produced a book on data sources which might be a useful reference.
50. Delegates from India, Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Fiji, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Viet Nam, Bangladesh, China and Myanmar reported on their countries' experiences, mentioning the national institutions responsible for undertaking household income/expenditure surveys, farm economy surveys or socio-economic surveys which covered aspects such as socio-economic situation of rural households, household income and/or wealth. The Commission recommended that FAO enter in contact with these institutions to obtain relevant experiences and that member countries cooperate with FAO and/or the World Bank in this undertaking.
