Flexible Voluntary Contribution (FVC)

Closing the agricultural data gap: contribution to the 50x2030 initiative

Objective

The subprogramme empowers countries to build national statistical systems that produce and use high-quality and timely agricultural data through survey programmes. Ultimately, the subprogramme contributes to improving the effectiveness of policymaking in the agriculture sector through evidence-based decision-making.

Status of the subprogramme
On going

Major results

PARTNERSHIPS

  • The subprogramme complements other existing grants and scales up the work in countries participating to the 50x2030 Initiative, thus generating immediate and tangible results. Further, the Subprogramme works in cooperation with the “Global Strategy to improve Agricultural and Rural Statistics Phase 2 Programme (GSARS II),” which came into effect in 2021. The GSARS-II presents strong synergies with the subprogramme, as its aim is to strengthen the statistical capacity in the country, needed for implementing complex agricultural integrated surveys. So far, the subprogramme has worked in the following partner countries: Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda.

CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT

  • Capacity development activities strengthen the capacity of national statistical agencies to collect, analyse, disseminate and use agricultural survey data. Through workshops and technical support missions, national staff progressively acquires knowledge and skills for designing and implementating agricultural survey programmes. This is one of the main objectives of the 50x2030 Initiative as it relates to the technical sustainability of the statistical system.

CROSS-SECTORAL WORK

  • The very nature of the 50x2030 Initiative calls for a multi sectoral collaborative approach. The three implementing agencies (FAO, World Bank and IFAD) work closely to ensure that the three components, Data Production, Methods and Tools and Data Use interact regularly at global and country level. For instance, survey programmes host research activities aimed at validating innovative and cost-effective methodologies and key actors are exposed to survey findings, so to promote their use in policy making.

GENDER

  • The Subprogramme contributes to increasing the availability of sex-disaggregated data (SDD) for critical topics, such as asset ownership, decision-making, control over economic resources and tenure rights. This is possible thanks to: i) the adoption of advanced survey tools developed in the context of the 50x2030 Initiative; ii) the dissemination of SDD. Significant examples of such contributions are in Uganda and in Georgia. Uganda calculated two data points of SDG indicator 5.a.1, which measures gender disparities on land tenure rights. In Georgia, the SDG 2.3.1 and 2.3.2 were calculated and disseminated with disaggregation of the holdings by sex of the holder.

INNOVATION

The Subprogramme contributes to 50x2030 Initiative, which is a highly innovative initiative. Main innovative elements include:

  • The set-up of an integrated system of farm-based surveys, characterized by annual core questionnaire which remains largely the same across the years and rotational questionnaires administered with lower frequency;
  • The integration of a household-based survey system and a farm-based survey system;
  • The capacity of the survey tools to monitor the progress towards the achievement of  SDG 2 and SDG 5;
  • Promoting and sustaining the use of technology for data collection;
  • The synergy between three components: 1) methodological research (led by the World Bank), 2) data production (led by FAO) and 3) data use (led by IFAD);
  • The partnership between the three implementing agencies and the creation of a unique multi-donor trust fund.

CHALLENGES and LESSONS LEARNED

  • Efficient technical and financial partnership with the national partners and strong commitment from national institutions are the main key elements for the successful implementation of the national survey programmes.
  • Adaptation of the survey instruments and data collection approaches is key for the successful implementation of the national survey programmes.
  • The presence of locally recruited consultants exclusively dedicated to the project is also a great advantage in terms of time efficiency and technical quality.
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