The need for reliable international agricultural statistics has continued to grow and, by providing advice and technical assistance, FAO cooperates with Member Nations in constantly improving the coverage, consistency and quality of data. Publications and other reference materials produced include:
· FAO Production Yearbook;· FAO Trade Yearbook;
· FAO Quarterly Bulletin of Statistics;
· a soil and terrain (SOTER) and a soil profile (SDB) database;
· ECOCROP1, a database covering the soil and climate requirements of more than 1 700 useful plant species;
· the Domestic Animal Diversity Information System (DAD-IS);
· the FAO/IAEA List of Mutant Varieties;
· the Seed Information System (SIS), which includes information on the performance of 80 000 varieties and assists in the identification of adapted varieties;
· a feed and forage database;
· FAO Fertilizer Yearbook;
· a database on fertilizer production, consumption and prices by country;
· national food balance sheets;
· nutrition country profiles;
· food composition tables;
· the Global Information and Early Warning System for Food and Agriculture (GIEWS), with databases on the current food situation and short-term outlook assessments for individual countries released electronically and through publications such as:
- Foodcrops and Shortages
- Food Supply Situation and Crop Prospects in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Special Reports and Alerts
- Special Commodity Statistical Bulletin.
FAO continues to be a recognized world centre for information related to fisheries and aquaculture. It provides an extensive range of information services to Member Nations through its 28 established databases. Some examples are:
· apparent fish consumption statistics based on food balance sheets;· fishery and aquaculture production statistics;
· fishery commodity production and trade statistics;
· Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA), an abstracting and indexing service covering the world's literature on the science, technology, management and conservation of aquatic resources and environments, including their socio-economic and legal aspects;
· GLOBEFISH, a service providing precise and unbiased information on international trade in fish and fishery products. It has associated regional information services for Asia and the Pacific (INFOFISH), Africa (INFOPECHE), Latin America and the Caribbean (INFOPESCA), Arab countries (INFOSAMAK), Eastern Europe (EASTFISH) and China (INFOYU).
The collection, analysis, interpretation and dissemination of comprehensive, qualitative and quantitative information on forests, forest products and forestry activities around the world are a priority for FAO. Examples of related information resources include:
· the Forest Resources Information System (FORIS) on global forest cover;· FAO Forest Products Yearbook;
· Global Forest Resources Assessments;
· directories of forest research organizations, forestry education and training institutions and forestry extension organizations;
· FORGEN, a database on forest genetic resources;
· a database on national forest programmes.
In close cooperation with many international partners FAO also maintains databases and information resources on various aspects of sustainability and rural development. Examples are:
· AFRICOVER, which aims at creating a digital georeferenced thematic land cover database and maps for Africa;· the FAO Digital World Atlas, an interactive digital atlas of the world for distribution via the Internet and on CD-ROM;
· land quality indicators, a collaborative study on indicator development involving FAO, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP);
· directories of agricultural education and training institutions;
· International Directory of Agricultural Extension Organizations;
· the Global Terrestrial Observing System (GTOS), in cooperation with UNEP, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU);
· Agenda 21 indicators;
· the Terrestrial Ecosystem Monitoring Sites (TEMS) database;
· GIS database maintenance, including operation and development of the ARTEMIS database (METEOSAT-NOAA data, rainfall estimates, vegetation indexes);
· agrometeorological crop monitoring and forecasting for food security.
Under Article XI of FAO's Constitution, the texts of Member Nations' laws and regulations affecting food and agriculture must be communicated to the Organization at the time of their publication. FAO's Legal Office maintains a computerized database of more than 6 000 records of laws, regulations and international agreements which are available for consultation by or on behalf of Member Nations and which also underpin its work in providing legislative assistance to Member Nations. This database is now on the Internet.
