Agriculture Statistics Capacity Building Workshop

Co-organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the UN Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (UN-SIAP)

6-10 October 2025

UN Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (UN-SIAP), Chiba, Japan

Concept Note

This in-person workshop will bring together senior government statisticians from Asia and the Pacific to strengthen national capacities in agricultural and food statistics. It responds to recommendations from the 30th Session of the Asia Pacific Commission on Agricultural Statistics (APCAS) and supports both FAO and UN-SIAP mandates for capacity building and technical assistance. The workshop will include several new areas of work led by FAO, including training on the 2030 round of the World Census of Agriculture (WCA2030) and SDG indicators under FAO custodianship that are new or under-reported in the region.

Objectives: 

At the end of the worshop, countries will be able to:

• Understand the concepts and definitions of agricultural statistics, distinguish the role of agricultural censuses versus surveys, understand the new WCA2030 guidelines, which cover agricultural censuses implemented between 2026 and 2035, and discuss the regional questionnaires, metadata and training materials developed by RAP to cover essential items in WCA2030, and considerations for adaptation at national level.
• Understand the key principles of sampling methodologies for agricultural surveys, development and use of sampling frames, core variables/content, and good practices.
• Understand the differences in sectoral data collection for fisheries and aquaculture vis-à-vis agriculture (crop and livestock production).
• Know the 22 SDG indicators under FAO custodianship, including the newest indicator – the minimum dietary diversity score.
• Compile farm-survey based SDG indicators and in so doing, discuss their challenges and potential solutions: 2.3.1/2.3.2 – small-scale food producers’ productivity/income; 2.4.1 – area under productivity and sustainable agriculture; 5.a.1/5.a.2 – women’s ownership of agricultural land/equal rights to land; and 12.3.1.a – the food loss index.
• Understand select additional indicators in more depth (e.g. 2.1.2 – Food Insecurity Experience Scale).
• Share experiences in the areas above, results from key indicators and trends, and the challenges faced and solutions used in national implementation.
• Strengthen intra-regional cooperation and collaboration.

About FAO and UN-SIAP

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is the custodian agency responsible for development and updating of international methodologies and standards related to food and agriculture statistics. This includes: the World Programme for the Census of Agriculture (WCA); the 22 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators under FAO custodianship; guidelines related to agriculture surveys, fisheries statistics, food consumption; the food component of the Consumer Price Index (CPI); and the components of international classifications that related to food and agriculture, including in the Central Product Classification (CPC), Harmonized System (HS) used for trade statistics and the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) of all economic activities.

The UN Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (UN-SIAP) is a professional statistical training center for government officials from developing countries. SIAP is a regional institution of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), located in Chiba city, Japan. It has been assisting developing countries in their human resource development through training officials not only of the countries in Asia and Pacific region but also in other areas of the World. Members of ESCAP and SIAP have requested specific training on agriculture and food statistics.