Global Strategy IMPROVING AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL STATISTICS IN ASIA PACIFIC Institutional Arrangements For Effective Coordination of Agricultural And Rural Statistics Centralized system Allan Nicholls Regional Coordinator of the Global Strategy in the Asia-Pacific Region Workshop on SPARS, Bangladesh, 15 November 2015
Overview of National Statistical System (NSS) in a Centralised System (Australia) There is a website which provides details of the National Statistical System: http://www.nss.gov.au/ Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is a centralized statistical office, with a few exceptions Agriculture and rural statistics responsibilities ABS all government censuses and most intercensal surveys except for Australian Bureau of Agricultural & Resource Economics & Sciences (ABARES) Australian agricultural and grazing industries survey (AAGIS) covers detailed financial, physical and socioeconomic information for the broadacre sector Australian dairy industry survey (ADIS) covers detailed financial, physical and socioeconomic information for the dairy sector Forecasts of annual production of a wide range of key commodities Department of Agriculture Publishes information on the volume and value of a wide range of fish species Publishes information on forest area by type and the volume and value of harvested logs Commodity specific organisations and cooperatives also produce statistics based on information collected from their members or through their production facilities Meat and Livestock Australia Dairy Australia Horticulture Australia
Overview of National Statistical System (NSS), ctd Agro-Environment related statistics ABS conducts an annual Rural Environment and Agricultural Commodities Survey (REACS) Information on agricultural land management and farming practices including cropping and pasture management, water use, fertiliser use, wetland protection and farm management Developed in conjunction with Dept of the Environment ABARES 2001-02 resource management survey was designed to investigate the perceptions of, and responses to, land degradation by Australian broadacre and dairy farmers, and to assist in the ongoing evaluation of a number of natural resource management programs. Dept of Agriculture Reports data from various forestry and fisheries regulatory programs Global Strategy to Improve Agricultural and Rural Statistics Asia Pacific 3
Highlights of legislation Legislation establishes the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), whose functions include: to constitute the central statistical authority for the Australian Government; to collect, compile, analyse and disseminate statistics and related information; all sub-sectors are covered to ensure co-ordination of the operations of official bodies in the collection, compilation and dissemination of statistics and related information To conduct a population census in the year 1981 and in every fifth year thereafter Legislation establishes the Australian Statistics Advisory Council (ASAC), whose functions are to advise the Minister and the Statistician in relation to: the improvement, extension and co-ordination of statistical services provided for public purposes in Australia; annual and longer term priorities and programs of work that should be adopted in relation to major aspects of the provision of those statistical services; and any other matters relating generally to those statistical services
Identifying the changing needs of data users ASAC fills this role at the broad level There is also an Australian Government Statistical Forum, which provides a vehicle for senior staff in Australian Government agencies to discuss key national and international statistical developments. The role of the forum is to: (a) Advance the NSS and consider strategic matters of importance to the effective operation of the NSS. (b) Consider matters of relevance to producers of statistical services within the Australian Government. (c) Share information on developments in each agency's activities, with regard to national statistical information, and identify opportunities for collaborative work For agriculture and agri-environment statistics An informal Agriculture Statistics User Advisory Group meets at least annually to guide ABS on priorities in this area Bilateral relationships are maintained with relevant Federal Departments State Departments Commodity based agencies
Coordination and Cooperation Statistical Clearing House mandatory central clearance point for business surveys that are run, funded, or conducted on behalf of the Commonwealth Government. works to reduce the load of Commonwealth Government surveys on Australian businesses, and ensure surveys are fit for their purpose. ABS and ABARES ABS provides the frame for use by ABARES in their farm surveys ABARES provides aggregate financial data back to ABS Work closely on a range of development issues ABS and Dept of Agriculture Work closely in relation to deciding user needs No working relationship in areas of forestry and fisheries ABS and Commodity based agencies ABS uses data from these agencies to help validate agriculture census and survey results
Funding for statistical activities Government provides a budget to ABS Allocation to subsectors is largely determined by ABS ABARES and Department of Agriculture are also funded by government There is no specific allocation for statistics in their budgets Allocation to statistical activity is based on their assessment of relative needs
Philippines Situation (PSA) National Statistician Sectoral Statistics Office (Deputy National Statistician) Censuses and Technical Coordination Office (Deputy National Statistician) Civil Registration and Central Support Office (Deputy National Statistician)
Legislative Provision Mandates and Functions of the PSA under Republic Act 10625 RULE 5 Functions ART. 6. The PSA shall: e).. f) collaborate with departments of the national government and their subsidiaries in the collection, compilation, maintenance and publication of statistical information, including special statistical data derived from the activities of those departments, corporations and their subsidiaries; g). h). i) coordinate with government departments and local government units (LGUs) on the promotion and adoption of statistical standards involving techniques, methodologies, concepts, definitions and classifications, and on the avoidance of duplication in the collection of statistical information;
Mechanisms for AgStat Data Collection and Dissemination Membership to inter-agency committees and technical committees or technical working groups regular interaction with producers and users in the public sector; thus promoting, among others, increasing use of administrative data, including exchange of data and generation of statistics through direct tabulation of administrative data User-Producer Dialogue/Forum - to present the role of agriculture and fishery statistics in the development of the economy. Through the Forum, improvements in the data systems are expected as a result of the assessment of the PSA products and services. To solicit feedback from clients, partners and stakeholders, consultative meetings and/or appreciation seminars were also organized to determine and address the emerging issues and changing needs of stakeholders.
Funding for AgStat Activities Funding for agstat activities is integrated in the PSA budget starting 2015 Supplemental budget in the form of Trust Funds to fund special/developmental projects from the Department of Agriculture
Lessons Learned/Best Practices on Effective Coordination Optimizing the services of Inter-Agency Technical Working Groups, Task Forces, etc. Creation of inter-agency statistical committees (IACs) to coordinate and resolve agency and sectoral concerns on statistical matters. The IAC serves as a forum for discussion of the issues raised by concerned producers, users and other stakeholders of sectoral and agency-specific statistics. For example there is a Committee on Agriculture
Lessons Learned/Best Practices on Effective Coordination System of Designated Statistics - a mechanism that identifies and generates the most critical and essential statistics required for social and economic planning/analysis based on approved criteria. o establishes priorities for data production and hence provides a means for more rational resource allocation among government statistical activities; o identifies the sources of official statistics; o defines the agency responsible, frequency of data production and schedule of data dissemination. It shall also indicate the major data items to be collected and the geographic level of disaggregation, among others.
Lessons Learned/Best Practices on Effective Coordination Statistical Survey Review and Clearance System (SSRCS) a mechanism which involves the process of evaluating the design and instruments of statistical surveys or censuses sponsored and/or to be conducted by government agencies including government corporations at the national and/or subnational level.
Conclusions Mechanisms set up to enable coordination can be effective Need to get the right people on relevant committees Need to meet regularly
Global Strategy IMPROVING AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL STATISTICS IN ASIA PACIFIC Thank you Contact us Email: allan.nicholls@fao.org FAO website: www.fao.org Global Strategy website: www.gsars.org 16