PAPP/STATS/02

SECRETARIAT OF THE PACIFIC COMMUNITY

THE PACIFIC AGRICULTURE POLICY PROJECT (papp) PROGRAMME STEERING WORKSHOP

(Nadi, Fiji, 29 June- 3 July 2015)

STATISTICS ACTIVITIES

Introduction

  1. Statistics on agriculture, fisheries, forestry and land are essential for both setting objectives and for monitoring progress towards development objectives of Pacific Islands on food security, environmental sustainability and poverty reduction.
  2. This paper gives a brief summary of completed and anticipated activities by PAPP to strengthen the collection, analysis and dissemination of agricultural statistics.
  3. The objective of this work stream is to strengthen regional agricultural policy by providing policy makers with the evidence base to ensure policies are appropriate and effective.

Key achievements 2014/15:

 

  1. Some of the key achievements on agricultural statistics since commencement of the project include:
  1. Agricultural Market Information System in Cook Islands established: 5 week consultancy mission conducted resulting in the establishment of a data collection system on agricultural statistics. It links data from the national statistics office, biosecurity, customs and the Ministry of Agriculture to help the Cook Islands government and private enterprises to monitor agricultural, production, trade and markets.
  2. Capacity building for Fiji Ministry of Agriculture: Training conducted with Ministry of Agriculture staff on the use of Fijian agricultural statistics in regional and international databases. This is one part of 12 month programme of training aimed at improving the collection and analysis of agricultural data in the Ministry.
  3. Agriculture Factsheet for Nauru: Agricultural factsheet produced for Nauru based on the data provided by their 2012 household income and expenditure survey. Provides a snapshot and infographics with key information such as contribution of agriculture to household income.

Anticipated activities 2015/2016

Core pieces of work to strengthen the use of agricultural statistics are expected to include:

  1. Pacific Strategic Plan for Agricultural and Rural Statistics. In partnership with FAO, assess the need for and develop a regional strategy aimed at enabling small Pacific Islands to collect core minimum data on agriculture and fisheries statistics in line with the Global Strategy on Agricultural and Rural Statistics. A meeting on the Global Strategy on Agricultural Statistics and its application in the Pacific is tentatively planned for September 2015 (see recommendations)FSM Census preparation: Support the development of a Census plan and methodology and pilot it in 2016 with the expectation of completing all activities by the end of 2017. This is done in partnership with FAO.
  2. AMIS Cook Islands roll-out: Road test the Cook Islands AMIS and conduct wider capacity building on its usage and analysis.
  3. Fiji Capacity Building: Further training conducted with MoA staff on the collection and analysis of agricultural statistics. For example, training on CS Pro (statistics software) for inputting and cleaning data planned for August and support to integrate statistics strengthening work into divisional business plans.
  4. Agriculture Factsheets- FSM, Solomon Island, Palau, Vanuatu, Tonga, Samoa: Factsheets highlighting key national level indicators on agriculture coming from national surveys to support national policy development.
    1. National Minimum Development Indicators: Update the methodology and data provided in the agriculture and forestry NMDIs for 15 Pacific Islands.http://www.spc.int/nmdi/
    2. What else? Do you have something in mind for your country which would support agricultural policy? If so, speak to Anna Fink (Agricultural Statistician) about your ideas.

Recommendation

  1. Participants are invited to:
  1. Note the above information on work areas, expected outcomes and proposed partnerships for PAPP’s Statistics activities.
  1. Register any objections to the proposed timeline for the regional workshop on Pacific Agricultural Statistics

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[2] Please see additional briefing note on the Pacific Strategy for Agricultural and Rural Statistics

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