In 2000, in order to promote a more comprehensive understanding of the roles that agriculture plays in relation to human well-being and development, FAO launched the project Socio-economic Analysis and Policy Implications of the Roles of Agriculture (the ROA Project).2
The ROA Project's main objective is to provide policy-makers with specific insights, tools and information for analysing the various roles of agriculture in their societies, and to inform them about policy options that could take such roles into consideration in pursuit of a more sustainable agriculture and rural development (SARD). The ROA Project intends to undertake a global comparative analysis based on a dozen country case studies carried out in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Near East and North Africa. The interdisciplinary work will combine the inputs of specialists in welfare economics, environmental economics, sociology and anthropology, as well as those of development practitioners and policy analysts.
The objective of the expert meeting organized by the Project from 19 to 21 March 2001 in Rome was to conduct an experts' review of possible methodological approaches to the analysis of agriculture's non-commodity outputs, with emphasis on the positive ones, and to gather advice for the implementation of country case studies. In particular, the meeting was to discuss methods and tools for the documentation, measurement and valuation of the various roles of agriculture in developing countries.
The meeting followed a seminar format in which, for each session, a lead paper previously commissioned by the Project was presented by an expert and commented on by two or three discussants, prior to open debate.
In all, 21 participants from developing and developed countries and 15 FAO professionals attended the meeting (see the Programme and List of participants in the Annex). The participants were comprised of welfare economists, environmental economists, socio-anthropologists, researchers and policy-makers. The selection of participants, which was based on their scientific expertise and experience in theoretical and practical fields that are of direct relevance to the Project's objectives, ensured a fair balance among regions and among the diversity of viewpoints relating to the current global debate about agriculture.
2 The Government of Japan, under Trust Fund GCP/INT/772/JPN, finances the Project, which became operational in August 2000 and extends until 2003.
