20th Session of the African Commission on Agricultural Statistics

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FAO's ACTIVITIES IN FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL STATISTI
CS RELEVANT TO AFRICA REGION SINCE THE LAST 19th
SESSION OF THE COMMISSION

• 20th Session of the African Commission on
  Agricultural Statistics

Algiers, Algeria, 10 - 13 DECEMBER 2007
Vincent Ngendakumana (vincent.ngendakumana_at_fao.org
)
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Introduction

• Since the last AFCAS session held in October 2005
  in Maputo, Mozambique, FAO has continued to work
  closely with Member States in Africa to
  strengthen their capacity to collect, analyse,
  disseminate and use statistical data on food,
  agriculture and rural sector.
• The main actors and activities Statistics
  Division for Agricultural Statistics, Fishery
  Department for fishery statistics, Forestry
  Department for forestry statistics and Regional
  Office for Africa with input from several
  officers.
• What has been done and implemented vis-a-vis the
  recommendations of the last AFCAS Session?

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Activities completed by the Statistics Division

• The Country Statistics Service (ESSS) Two groups
  (the National Statistics Systems Group -including
  CountrySTAT-, and the Census and Survey
  Programmes Group) inter-act closely. The Service
  has been working jointly with the Regional
  Statisticians to respond to needs expressed by
  countries
• The Global Statistics Service (ESSG) It
  comprises two groups the Basic Statistics Group
  and Food Security Indicators Group.

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Most recent activities related to field programme
and implemented by ESSS

• Formulation of agricultural statistics and census
  projects Cameroon, Senegal, Benin, Equatorial
  Guinea, Uganda, Mauritania, Eritrea, Sao Tome,
  Angola, Central African Republic, Rwanda,
  Burundi, etc.
• Preparation or implementation of agricultural
  censuses Comoros, Mali, Chad, Madagascar, Niger,
  United Republic of Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Benin,
  etc.
• On-going systems of agricultural statistics and
  institutional strengthening Ethiopia,
  Mozambique, Seychelles, Kenya, Senegal, Cote
  dIvoire, Tunisia, (technical supervisory
  services of statistics component of WB funded
  agricultural sector support project), etc.
• Agricultural statistics for food security and
  early warning information systems Ethiopia,
  Mozambique, Malawi, etc.
• Regional Projects UEMOA Regional Agricultural
  Information System project.

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The Initiative for Strengthening Food and
Agricultural Statistics in Africa

• Implementation of complementary regional projects
  funded by the World Bank, France and Italy
• Several capacity building and pilot country
  activities have been implemented under the
  interim phase (particularly in Kenya, Senegal,
  Mali, UEMOA)
• The projects have been designed as the first
  stage in a longer-term process that should help
  to mobilize substantial resources to improve food
  and agricultural statistics throughout Africa.
• The overall goal of these projects is to reduce
  rural poverty and food insecurity in Africa
  through the promotion of more effective policies,
  programme and other investments.

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ESSS Methodological development

• Study on the use of GPS for crop area
  measurement.
• Development (in partnership with the World Bank
  and PARIS21) of a Toolkit for monitoring and
  evaluation of Agriculture and Rural Development
  Programmes and conduct of pilot country studies
  for testing the toolkit and indicators.
• Participation to the preparation of a joint
  publication of the Inter-Secretariat Working
  Group on Agriculture and Rural Development
  Indicators.
• The World Census of Agriculture 2010 (WCA 2010)
  was prepared in 2005 to cover the decade of
  census taking 2006-2015. It has been also
  translated in French and Spanish.
• Preparation of an Advocacy video on Agricultural
  Statistics in partnership with PARIS21.
• Development of conceptual framework on
  Statistical Classification.
• Preparation of technical handbook on linking
  population and agriculture census, community
  level statistics (Africa Region) in the framework
  of agriculture census as supplements to the WCA
  2010.
• Considerable work has been carried out with the
  UN Statistics Division and the UNECE to ensure
  the that same message (on the relationship
  between the Population and Housing Census and the
  Agricultural Census) is provided to member
  countries by FAO and these UN bodies in the
  various publications on this subject.

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Development/implementation of CountrySTAT

• Pilot CountrySTAT Projects Kenya, Ghana.
• Current CountrySTATs Projects Eritrea, Ethiopia,
  Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Senegal, Sudan,
  Somalia, Tanzania and Togo.
• Current Regional Organizations in Africa Union
  Economique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine (UEMOA),
  Arab Organization for Agricultural Development
  (AOAD).
• Proposal for a CountrySTAT for Sub-Saharan Africa
  Project

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Capacity Building (Workshops, Seminars, Training
Sessions)

• Several training sessions on CountrySTAT have
  been organized and conducted in FAO-HQ and on
  site for countries where related projects were or
  are being implemented Workshop on Country STAT
  and Metadata, (December 2006, Cairo-Egypt,), etc.
• A Joint FAO/AFRISTAT Round table meeting on the
  new FAO World Programme for Census of Agriculture
  2010 (March 2006, Bamako-Mali) has been organized
  for French speaking countries. The same kind of
  round table will be organized for English
  speaking countries in the near future.
• A technical workshop on the integration and
  access to agricultural statistics for better
  formulation and monitoring (December 2007,
  Algiers-Algeria).

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Other ESSS/RAF activities

• Data on Government Expenditures on agriculture
  collected from African countries for monitoring
  the commitment to invest 10 of budgets in
  Agriculture.
• The questionnaires on the State of Agricultural
  Statistical Systems in Africa have been sent
  again to countries.

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Activities undertaken by the ESSG

• The Basic Statistics Group has continued to
  provide Advisory Technical Services (ATS) input
  to countries (through TCP Project) on SUA/FBS, in
  respect to what has been recommended in Maputo.
  The latest one has been provided to Senegal in
  2006.
• The Food Security Indicators Group has
  implemented activities for strengthening the
  national statistical capacity of national
  statistics offices and national users in
  compilation of food security indicators.

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Activities undertaken in the field of
sex-disaggregated data by RAF

• RAF continued to provide technical and financial
  support to African Member Countries for enhanced
  collection, analysis, dissemination and use of
  sex-disaggregated data reflecting gender
  relations prevailing in the agricultural sector .
• The Organisation supported the production of the
  first thematic census reports entitled Gender
  profile of the agricultural sector, prepared with
  statistical data collected by censuses undertaken
  during the 2000 Round of the World Census of
  Agriculture.
• The Organisation started developing an electronic
  tool kit containing examples of relevant
  questions used in the various census programmes
  implemented in Africa during the past round and
  the table formats that facilitate the analysis
  and dissemination of data obtained.
• FAO supports the Economic Commission for Africa
  to integrate sex-disaggregated agricultural data
  into the African Gender and Development Index
  being developed by the latter Institution.

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Activities related to Fisheries Statistics in
Africa

• The FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Information and
  Statistics Service (FIES) has continued to
  compile, process and disseminate the FAO global
  databases on fishery statistics with close
  collaboration with members. In addition,
  specifically for Africa, FIES regularly updates
  two regional databases on capture production
  corresponding to the FAO Fishing Areas.
• The FAO Strategy for Improving Information on
  Status and Trends of capture Fisheries (STF) has
  been presented and discussed at the seventeenth
  session of CECAF (Fishery Committee for the
  Eastern Central Atlantic) in 2004. In October
  2006 Activities of the FishCode-STF project
  proposed for West Africa were discussed and
  approved at the 18th session of CECAF.
• FAO-FIES has also contributed to TCP Project
  TCP/RAF/3102. The aim is to establish a
  cost-effective data collection system based on
  sampling methods for estimating aquaculture
  production, and to link this to detailed
  socio-economic variables to develop models for
  estimating potential viability of aquaculture
  ventures in the region.

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Recent Publications

• FAO Statistical Yearbook 2005/2006, Vol. 2/1 and
  Vol. 2/2.
• World Programme of Census of Agriculture 2010.
• FAO Yearbooks on Fishery statistics 2004 and 2005
  (Capture production, Aquaculture production,
  Commodities) and the State of World Fisheries and
  Aquaculture 2006.

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Main recommendations from the 19th AFCAS Session
and their status of implementation
RECOMMENDATIONS STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION
1. The Commission has recommended that countries which has provided replies to the 2005 AFCAS questionnaire made a detailed review of the country profiles which summarises the replies and provide corrections as required so that a reliable database may be prepared. Other countries take necessary actions to reply to the questionnaire by end of November 2005. Country representatives present at this Session be considered as focal points for filling the questionnaire and returning it to FAO. Number of responses has passed from 31 to 35 countries. For the 2007 AFCAS questionnaire, the focal points have been used.
2. The Commission has urged FAO to continue to support African countries in compilation of FBS taking into accounts the experience and lessons learnt from other country. After Kenya, Senegal has been assisted the SUA/FBS is operational. CILSS is also contributing to this activity in his region.
3. The commission has urged FAO to work on international classification related to agricultural statistics in close collaboration with other regional and internal institutions. FAO has contributed significantly to the revision of international classifications (CPC, etc.).
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Main recommendations from the 19th AFCAS Session
and their status of implementation (Cont)
RECOMMENDATIONS STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION
4. The Commission has urged FAO to provide advanced training on CountrySTAT to enable the CBS officers to train others. The Commission has also called on FAO to explore ways of sponsoring the officers implementing the projects for exchange and training program. Several training sessions on CountrySTAT have been organized and conducted in FAO-HQ and on site for countries where related projects were or are being implemented Workshop on Country STAT and Metadata.
5. - The Commission has recommended that countries develop strategies to make an effective linkage between population census and agricultural census without prejudice to the success of the population census. - It has also recommended that FAO organizes training sessions to explain WCA 2010 for the benefits of statisticians in developing countries. - Complementary guidelines on Agricultural module of Population Census and Community level data have been provided by FAO. - A Joint FAO/AFRISTAT Round table meeting on the new FAO World Programme for Census of Agriculture 2010 (March 2006, Bamako-Mali) has been organized for French speaking countries. The same kind of round table will be organized for English speaking countries in the near future.
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Main recommendations from the 19th AFCAS Session
and their status of implementation (Cont)
RECOMMENDATIONS STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION
6. - The Commission has recommended that Member Countries intensify user-producers dialogues to facilitate the emergence of a common understanding among data producers and users on the importance of producing gender-disaggregated agricultural statistics. - It has called on FAO to ensure that the experience gained in Africa during the 2000 WCA in the production of sub-household level gender disaggregated agricultural data be build on and expanded during the WCA2010, through the systematic application of Theme 12, Management of the holding in all sample census. - It has requested that Member Countries and FAO alike endeavour to fine-tune new complex gender sensitive concepts like sub-holder and sub-holding, document experiences with their application and provide additional guidelines on how to adapt them to country specific circumstances. - It has urged FAO to step up its efforts to build the capacity of data producers and especially data users on the production and use of gender disaggregated agricultural statistical data. - FAO has supported the production of the first thematic census reports entitled Gender profile of the agricultural sector, prepared with statistical data collected by censuses undertaken during the 2000 Round of the World Census of Agriculture. - FAO has started developing an electronic tool kit containing examples of relevant questions used in the various census programmes implemented in Africa during the past round and the table formats that facilitate the analysis and dissemination of data obtained. - FAO has recently re-engaged with relevant stakeholders in Senegal to expand their experience in collecting such data and is on stand-by for other Member Countries preparing their census under the WCA2010. (Notably Benin, Burkina Faso, Mozambique and Tanzania).
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Main recommendations from the 19th AFCAS Session
and their status of implementation (Cont)
RECOMMENDATIONS STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION
7. The Commission has requested that the AGDI (Africain Gender and Development Index) be made available to all Member Countries, allowing them to appropriate the tool and contribute to its enrichment. - It has recommended that the agricultural component of the AGDI be strengthened, making use of available gender disaggregated agricultural data, in close collaboration with Member Countries. - It has called on ECA to share with the Commission the results of the AGDI field studies in the 12 pilot countries where the AGDI is tested. - It has recommended greater collaboration and coordination between ECA and the FAO on the development of gender specific statistical tools and indicators on agriculture This subject is on the agenda of this 20th AFCAS Session. Progress made by ECA will be presented and discussed.
8. - The Commission has recommended that Member Countries share experiences on fishery data collection at the different levels of the WCA 2010. - It has urged FAO to support countries in such data collection in view of their planning efforts for attaining improved food security and poverty reduction. A subject on fishery statistics is on the agenda of this 20th AFCAS Session. Progress made will be presented and discussed.

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Thank you for your kind attention