(Agenda item 1)
The Secretary of the FAO Expert Consultation, Mr Naman Keita, called the meeting to order at 08.30 hrs and welcomed the participants. He mentioned that the meeting was a scientific one and hence would like to keep the formalities to a minimum.
The Secretary of the meeting made a number of Programme announcements. He then requested each of the participants to introduce themselves with their name and a short indication of their function and affiliation. The list of participants is attached as Annex II.
In his brief remarks, the Chief of the Statistical Development Service, Mr Hiek Som, presented an overview of the organizational set up and preceding activities, leading to this Expert Consultation. He also mentioned the different specialisations of the experts that were represented at the Consultation and expressed the hope for a fruitful meeting, looking forward to their valuable contributions.
Since the FAO Sub-Regional Representative, Mrs V. Sekitoleko, was unexpectedly called away for an urgent matter, Mr F. Bitanihirwe, Senior Investment Officer, delivered the Opening Address on her behalf. In her speech, the importance of Root and Tuber crops for Food Security was underlined, particularly at the household level. But it was well known that data on these crops have often a low level of accuracy and quality, whilst such data are badly needed for planning and implementation purposes. It was further mentioned that FAO has a mandate in the area of crop production data and that FAO had prepared some manuals on the matter but not for collecting data on roots and tubers. She was, however, confident that the participants in the Consultation could contribute to the aim of improving data on roots and tubers and expressed her sincere thanks for their willingness to participate. On a personal note, Mr Bitanihirwe added that his own work in formulating investment projects was hampered by lack of adequate data and was therefore much welcoming this initiative. The text of the speech is attached as Annex IV.
The Secretary to the Meeting then requested the participants to elect the Chairperson, Vice-Chairpersons and Rapporteurs of the Expert Consultation. The following officers were elected:
|
Chairperson: |
Prof. M.O. Akoroda, University of Ibadan, Nigeria |
|
Vice-Chairperson: |
Mrs Kajonwan Itharattana, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Bangkok, Thailand |
|
Rapporteurs: |
Dr Ph. Vernier, CIRAD, Montpellier, France |
|
|
Mr B. Chaura, SADC Regional Early Warning Unit, Harare, Zimbabwe. |
(Agenda Item 2)
The proposed agenda was adopted by the meeting with one change in the title of Paper 5. The approved agenda is attached as Annex I.
(Agenda Item 3, Paper no 1)
Mr Hiek Som, Chief of the Statistical Development Service, FAO, presented the first paper. He indicated that several efforts had been made in the past and that the subject of this Consultation had been on the list for quite some time, but that there had been insufficient possibilities to get any guidelines for statistics on root crops published.
The purpose of the meeting was to document the various experiences existing in countries such as agronomic aspects, various ways of assessing performance and how to estimate and forecast production. In the long-term, the intention was to provide guidelines on root and tuber crop statistics for developing countries. The papers presented at the Consultation may be revised by the authors based on the discussions and reactions during the meeting. It was hoped to identify the key parameters of influence on root crop performance. The expected outcome of the Expert Consultation would be in the first place the papers themselves and then the conclusions arising from the discussions and the recommendations to FAO on the development of actions to be undertaken as guidance for a Plan of Action. The ultimate objective would be the actual publishing of Guidelines for the collection of data on root and tuber crops.
(Agenda Item 4, Paper no. 2)
Mr John Q. Rijks, Consultant to the FAO Statistical Development Service, presented this paper. The purpose of this paper was to review some of the most important activities by FAO in the area of statistics on root and tuber crops, in order to illustrate the developments that have taken place over the years and to provide a kind of common base and starting point for the successive presentations and discussions in the meeting.
It was found that the importance of roots and tubers as a basis for household level food security was long recognized, but that the emphasis in agricultural statistics had been mainly on the cereal crops. Methodology documented over the years tried to deal with the specific problems of the root and tuber crops as particular cases of existing methods for food crops, concentrating mainly on aspects such as mixed cropping, continuous planting and harvesting, etc. In successive technical fora, the attention had been drawn to the fact that the specific agronomic aspects of the root and tuber crops needed to be taken into account more prominently as well as changes in data requirements. It was also felt that it would not be possible to devise a simple method that could take care of the specific requirements for data and information of these crops.
Development of statistical methodology for the root and tuber crops might try to adapt existing approaches, but it was also argued that some new thinking would be required. Given also the increased emphasis on monitoring household level food security, a combination of methods might be the most appropriate way of responding to changes in users’ data needs, whereby a balance needed to be found between accuracy and feasibility of implementation. Obviously, pilot studies for testing methodology in multiple locations would be required.
