Concepts and Definitions

Population

Total Population
Generally refers to the present-in-area (de facto) population within the present national boundaries.

Rural Population
This refers to the population residing in rural areas. Usually the urban areas and hence the urban population are defined and the residual is taken as rural. In practice, the criteria adopted for distinguishing between urban and rural areas vary among countries. However, these criteria can be roughly divided into three major groups: classification of localities of a certain size as urban; classification of administrative centres of minor civil divisions as urban; and classification of centres of minor civil divisions on a chosen criterion which may include type of local government, number of inhabitants or proportion of population engaged in agriculture.

Economically Active Population ( labour force)
This refers to all employed and unemployed persons (including those seeking work for the first time). It covers employers; self-employed workers; salaried employees; wage earners; unpaid workers assisting in a family, farm or business operation; members of producers' cooperatives; and members of the armed forces.

Economically Active Population in Agriculture (agricultural labour force)
The economically active population in agriculture is that part of the economically active population engaged in or seeking work in agriculture, hunting, fishing or forestry.

Land Use

Total Land
Total country area, excluding area under inland water bodies. The definition of inland water bodies generally includes major rivers and lakes.

Arable Land
Arable land refers to land under temporary crops (double-cropped areas are counted only once), temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow (less than five years). This category of land does not include abandoned land resulting from shifting cultivation. “Arable land” is not meant to indicate the amount of land that is potentially cultivable.

Land under Permanent Crops
Land cultivated with crops that occupy the land for long periods and need not be replanted after each harvest, such as cocoa, coffee and rubber. This category includes land under flowering shrubs, fruit trees, nut trees and vines, but excludes land under trees grown for wood or timber.

Irrigated Land
This refers to the areas equipped to provide water to crops. It includes areas equipped for full or partial control irrigation, spate irrigation areas, and equipped wetland or inland valley bottoms. It should be noted that definitions on irrigation vary between countries.

Agricultural Production – Major Items

Included here in quantity terms, and in descending order of importance, are the three major agricultural commodities (crops and livestock products). The commodities are ranked on the basis of their price-weighted quantities in 2004. This information has been extracted from the FAO Production Index database. The FAO production index calculations are based on 1999-2001 constant  “international commodity prices” derived from the Geary-Khamis formula. This method assigns a single producer price to each commodity. For example, one metric ton of wheat has the same price regardless of the country where it was produced. 

The commodities covered are all crops and livestock products originating in each country for which information is available. Practically all products are covered, with the main exception of fodder crops. The calculations for meat production are based on indigenous animals, including the meat equivalent of exported live animals but excluding the meat equivalent of imported live animals. Annual changes in livestock and poultry numbers or in their average live weights are not taken into account.

Foreign Trade

Agricultural Trade
This refers to imports and exports pertaining to agricultural products in the narrow sense (i.e.excluding fishery and forestry products).

Total Merchandise Trade
This refers to total imports and total exports of merchandises. In general, export values are f.o.b. (free on board) and import values are c.i.f. (cost, insurance and freight).

Major agricultural imports and exports
Included here in percentage terms, and in descending order of importance, are the three major agricultural commodities (crop and livestock products) imported and exported. Items are ranked on the basis of their shares in the 2004 total agricultural trade (imports or exports).

Agricultural Inputs

Agricultural Tractors
Agricultural tractors generally refer to wheel and crawler tractors (excluding garden tractors) used in agriculture

Fertilizer Use
Fertilizer consumption refers to the total amount of fertilizers used. This is obtained by adding the volumes of nitrogenous, phosphate and potash fertilizers expressed in terms of plant nutrients (N, P₂O₅ and K₂O). The time reference for fertilizer consumption is the crop year (July through June).

Food Supply

Per caput dietary energy/protein supply
The data shown refer to the dietary energy supply (DES) per caput/day, during the reference period, in kilocalories and to the protein supply per caput per day in grams. They refer to the amount of food available for human consumption as estimated by the FAO Food Balance Sheets (FBS) However, the amount of food actually consumed may be lower than the quantity shown as food availability depending on the degree of losses of edible food and nutrients in the household, e.g. during storage, in preparation and cooking, as plate-waste or quantities fed to domestic animals and pets, or thrown away.

Food consumption - Major items
Included here in percentage terms, and in descending order of importance, are the three major food items consumed. Items are ranked on the basis of their shares in 2001-2003 per caput dietary energy supply (DES).

Macro-Economic Aggregates

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
GDP measures the total output of goods and services for final use occurring within the domestic territory of a given country, regardless of the allocation to domestic and foreign claims. GDP at purchaser values is the sum of gross value added by all resident and non-resident producers in the economy plus any taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources.

Agricultural GDP
Agriculture here corresponds to ISIC divisions 1-5 and includes forestry, hunting, and fishing, as well as cultivation of crops and livestock production. Agricultural GDP is the net output of the sector after adding up all outputs and subtracting intermediate inputs. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or depletion and degradation of natural resources. The origin of value added is determined by the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC), revision 3. Data are in current U.S. dollars.

Gross National Income (GNI) per caput
GNI per caput (formerly GNP per caput) is the gross national income, converted to U.S. dollars and divided by the midyear population. GNI is the sum of value added by all resident producers plus any product taxes (less subsidies) not included in the valuation of output plus net receipts of primary income (compensation of employees and property income) from abroad. GNI, which is originally calculated in national currency, is for comparisons across economies usually converted to U.S. dollars at official exchange rates, although an alternative rate is used when the official exchange rate is judged to diverge by an exceptionally large margin from the rate actually applied in international transactions. In this connection, to smooth fluctuations in prices and exchange rates, a special Atlas method of conversion is used by the World Bank. This applies a conversion factor that averages the exchange rate for a given year and the two preceding years and is adjusted for differences in rates of inflation between the country, and certain highly industrialised countries. For the years up to 2000, the latter countries were France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. For 2001, these countries were expanded to include the Euro Zone, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.