(Item 5 of the agenda)51. Statements containing the situation of food and agricultural statistics in the countries of the Asia and Pacific region were presented to the commission. The country statements included details of: (a) recent and proposed changes in the statistical organizations relating to food and agriculture; (b) agricultural and related surveys undertaken and plans for the future, including those on the census of agriculture; (c) recent innovative activities and measures undertaken since the last commission session; (d) outstanding problems; and (e) in-depth assessment of the quality of data produced by national agricultural statistics services.
52. The commission noted that the country statements and presentations reflected national priorities and plans for the agricultural statistics. They shared a common problem of limitations and deficiencies in their current practices in producing reliable, accurate and timely agricultural statistics. The countries of the region have a strong commitment to improve the statistical system. However, most of them faced resource constraints.
53. The commission was pleased to note that progress was being made in improving the quality of statistical services through a combination of measures in the member countries. These included: improvement of methodologies; providing increased training; extending the scope and coverage of programmes; developing data collection, processing and dissemination systems, particularly with respect to the utilization of remote sensing data and Internet facilities. The commission also noted that in some countries progress was achieved with assistance from bilateral and multilateral donor organizations.
54. The commission noted that agriculture continued to play an important role in the economies of countries in the region, where it formed a significant part of gross domestic product. The availability of reliable agricultural statistics was, therefore, of great significance for planning purposes. The commission, however, observed that the recent economic crisis in most of the countries of the region had adversely affected their ability to improve the statistical systems in member countries.
55. The commission noted the wide variations in the set-up of statistical organisations of countries in Asia and the Pacific. Some countries had highly centralised systems; others had adopted varying degrees of decentralisation coupled with a national statistical coordinating body. The commission noted the strengths and weaknesses of the different statistical systems in the region and country-specific problems arising from the existing arrangements. It took particular note of the problems associated with coordination, validation, duplication and inconsistencies in food and agricultural statistics in some countries. The commission was pleased to note that some of the countries had enacted laws that would strengthen their national statistical systems while some other countries were striving to revise/introduce new methodologies to bring improvements in their statistical systems.
56. The commission was pleased to note that many countries in the region had regular programmes for conducting agricultural census. In this context many countries raised the problem of resource constraints. The commission also noted that the first national census of agriculture in China was undertaken in January 1997 on complete enumeration basis which provided functional study of the agricultural resources of the country. The results of the census were disseminated in various media forms. In some countries, agriculture census was conducted by complete enumeration while some countries used sample enumeration.
57. The commission noted that in many cases, agricultural statistics were mostly production-oriented. Statistics on consumption, cost of production, distribution, operations and socio-economic profiles were not always available. The commission recognized the need for compilation of data on cost of production of different crops in the member countries and noted that statistics on capital formation, utilization of farm inputs and support services were either not up-to-date or not regularly collected.
58. The commission noted the need to minimize duplication of statistical activities, reduce inconsistent data sets and data gaps in statistical systems in some countries. It also noted that the data quality needed improvements in terms of reliability, relevance and timeliness. The commission also recognized that the quality of data on minor crops, in particular, often required improvement.
59. The commission noted the interest expressed by some countries in the development of environmental statistics alongside agricultural data. It also recognized the technical assistance being provided to some countries by FAO for collection, processing, analysis and utilization of farm level data. The commission also recognized the need to enhance the capability of agricultural information systems to cater to the needs of a wide range of users.
60. It was suggested that, in future sessions, country delegates be requested to include in their country statements, as a special topic, the present state of national forestry, fishery and livestock statistics
61. The commission also requested FAO to further strengthen international cooperation and partnership among national agencies to complement efforts of the regional project on the improvement of agricultural statistics in Asia and Pacific countries. The commission requested FAO to take necessary action to compile a list of homepage addresses of these national statistical agencies for dissemination to member countries.
62. The commission noted the increasing trend in the adoption of the Optical Recognition of Characters (OCR) for data capture in the region. Such technique had been used in Bangladesh, China and Japan. The commission cautioned, however, that care should be taken when OCR was used, as it required specialized skill.
63. The commission was pleased to receive a report each on the activities of ADB and SIAP as they related to food and agricultural statistics in general, and to the work of the commission in particular. The commission highly appreciated the cooperation between FAO and SIAP in statistical training and between FAO and ADB in their support to Cambodia for a survey on cost of production of main crops.
