FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
AFRICAN COMMISSION ON AGRICULTURAL
STATISTICS (AFCAS)
Twenty-first Session
Accra, Ghana, 28 – 31 October 2009
AGENDA ITEM IV.1
OVERVIEW OF FAO’s ACTIVITIES RELEVANT TO AFRICA
REGION SINCE 20th AFCAS SESSION
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CONTENT
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
INTRODUCTION
1. STATISTICS DIVISION (ESS)
2. ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN IN THE FIELD OF SEXDISAGGREGATED DATA BY FAO REGIONAL OFFICE FOR
AFRICA
3. ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN IN THE FIELD OF FISHERIES
STATISTICS IN AFRICA
4. ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN IN THE FIELD OF WATER
STATISTICS IN AFRICA
ANNEX: LIST OF MAIN RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE 20th SESSION OF
AFCAS AND THEIR STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION
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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
1. STATISTICS DIVISION (ESS)
Methodological development
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Improving FAOSTAT system (http://faostat.fao.org/default.aspx ): the system is now running
Methodological guidelines and publications:
Published
•
FAO/World Bank publication on TRACKING RESULTS IN AGRICULTURE AND RURAL
DEVELOPMENT IN LESS-THAN-IDEAL CONDITIONS-A sourcebook of indicators for
monitoring and evaluation.
(http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/ess/documents/Sourcebook-Web-Version.pdf)
•
FAO publication on DERIVING FOOD SECURITY INFORMATION FROM
NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD BUDGET SURVEYS- Experiences, Achievements, Challenges.
(http://www.fao.org/docrep/011/i0430e/i0430e00.htm)
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FAO/RAF: publication on STATE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SYSTEMS
IN AFRICA in 2007 which was produced from the analysis of replies received from more
than 40 countries of the region to the biennial survey conducted during last AFCAS Session
in 2007.
•
FAO STATISTICAL YEARBOOK 2007-2008 provides a selection of indicators on food and
agriculture by country.
(http://www.fao.org/economic/ess/publications-studies/statistical-yearbook/fao-statistical-yearbook2007-2008/en/)
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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
1. STATISTICS DIVISION (ESS)
Methodological development
Methodological guidelines and publications:
Under preparation
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HANDBOOK ON THE USE OF GPS/PDA FOR CROP AREA MEASUREMENT. FAO, jointly
with EU Joint Research Center, World Food Programme and CIRAD have been working on
preparing this Handbook. A first draft of the Handbook has been completed and the
document will be published early 2010.
•
A HANDBOOK ON THE USE OF INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFICATION IN AGRICULTURAL
STATISTICS is being prepared and a first draft will be completed by end of 2009 for
publication in 2010.
•
Methodological Review: WORLD CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE 1990 and 2000 to be
published in 2010
•
FAO and PARIS21 are working on preparing: GUIDELINES FOR INTEGRATION OF
AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS IN NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR DEVELOPMENT OF
STATISTICS.
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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
1. STATISTICS DIVISION (ESS)
Field Programme
The main areas of support are agricultural censuses, on-going systems of agricultural
statistics and institutional strengthening, agricultural statistics for food security and early
warning information systems, as well as statistical data processing and dissemination.
The projects are usually funded by FAO Technical Cooperation Programme Funds and Trust Funds..
The most recent activities related to field programme include:
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Formulation of agricultural statistics and census projects: Senegal, Uganda, Eritrea, Sao
Tomé e Principe.
Preparation or implementation of agricultural censuses: Mozambique, Uganda, Burkina
Faso, Benin.
Formulation and implementation of a support to permanent agricultural statistics system as
follow-up to successful implementation of the census of agriculture and livestock, Niger.
Agricultural statistics for food security and early warning information systems: Ethiopia;
Support to preparation of Supply Utilization Accounts and Food Balance Sheets: Zanzibar
(Tanzania), Senegal, Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire.
CountrySTAT project being implemented in 17 Sub-Saharan Countries.
Formulation of UEMOA funded CountrySTAT project for UEMOA HQs and selected member
countries of this sub-regional organization.
Formulation of a CountrySTAT project in Algeria
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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
1. STATISTICS DIVISION (ESS)
Development and implementation of CountrySTAT for 17 Sub-Saharan countries
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Project funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation operational since beginning of 2008 for
17 Sub-Saharan African countries (Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire,
Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania,
Uganda, Zambia).
•
The project aims at developing CountrySTAT system in order to organize, integrate and
disseminate statistical data and metadata on food and agriculture coming from different
sources.
•
Focus on capacity building and technical support activities has been conducted at global
and country level, including:
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First Consultative Meeting of the project in July 2008 in Dakar, Senegal for francophone
countries and in September 2008 in Zanzibar, Tanzania for Anglophone countries
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Basic CountrySTAT training in October 2008 in Rome, Italy
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PC-Axis Meeting in Rome, Italy in 2008
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Advanced CountrySTAT Training in October 2009 in Rome, Italy
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PC-Axis Meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania in October 2009
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Second Consultative Meeting in Accra, Ghana in October 2009
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Preparation of several methodological and training material in IT and Statistics
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Support to several national trainings and workshops
As a result, several countries have launched or are about to launch their CountrySTAT and the
project is extended until September 2010.
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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
1. STATISTICS DIVISION (ESS)
Food Security Indicators
•
The Division has developed the Food Security Statistics Module (FSSM) for deriving a suite
of food security indicators, including the MDG hunger indicator, from the available food data
collected in the National Household Surveys (NHS)
.
•
This software uses organized food data files of the NHS to produce a large range of food
security statistics at national and sub national levels useful for policy makers to better focus
their poverty alleviation programmes.
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Regional and country level FSSM training has been carried out during the past years and
nationals of more than 35 African countries have been trained and provided the FSSM
software. A few countries have used those results as inputs for their National Food Security
Programme (NFSP) of Food Insecurity Assessment reports (FIA). Malawi and Kenya have
published their FIA reports.
•
The Division is still providing support to African countries having more recent NHS food data
using the updated FSSM version which has been updated with modules of food requirement
and micronutrients. The latter analysis is useful to analyze the quality food consumed in
terms of micronutrients, amino acids and proteins.
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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
1. STATISTICS DIVISION (ESS)
Capacity Building (Workshops, Seminars, Training Sessions)
ESS has organized several technical meetings, workshops and seminars:
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A Joint FAO/Uganda Bureau of Statistics Round table meeting on the FAO World Programme for
Census of Agriculture 2010 (April 2008, Kampala, Uganda) for English speaking countries.
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Training Workshop on Agricultural Statistics in Rabat, Morocco April, 2009 for countries of North
Africa and the Near East
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The second Wye City Group Meeting in June 2009 in Rome with a focus on issues related to the
revision and preparation of a supplement for Non-OECD countries to the handbook Rural Households'
Livelihood and Well-being: Statistics on Rural Development and Agriculture Household Income.
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A Round table meeting on the new FAO World Programme for Census of Agriculture 2010 (November
2008, Cairo, Egypt) has been organized for North Africa and Near East countries.
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Technical meeting on use of GPS for crop area measurement in agricultural surveys in Africa Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia, November, 2008
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International Statistical Institute (ISI) Satellite Meeting on Agricultural Statistics August 2009, Maputo,
Mozambique back-to-back with the 57th Session of the International Statistical Institute (ISI) in
Durban, from 16 to 22 August 2009.
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Several training sessions on CountrySTAT have been organized and conducted in FAO-HQ and in
countries where related the CountrySTAT project is being implemented as indicated above.
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
1. STATISTICS DIVISION (ESS)
Global Strategy for Improving Agricultural Statistics
•
Since 2008, and under the auspices of the United Nations Statistical Commission, FAO has
been working with other International Agencies and Countries to develop a Global Strategy
for Improving Agricultural Statistics.
•
The purpose of the Global Strategy to Improve Agricultural Statistics is to provide a vision for
national and international statistical systems to produce the basic statistical information in
support of policy and decision making, as it relates to the agricultural sector, required for the
21st century. The immediate goals are:
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Countries will agree upon a minimum set of core agricultural data and will pledge to provide such a
minimum core data set annually to meet the current and emerging needs of policy and decision
making, markets and trade, and investment.
Agriculture will be integrated into the national statistical systems in order to meet policy maker and
other data user expectations that the data will be comparable across countries and over time.
The integration will be achieved by an agreed upon conceptual framework as a foundation and an
establishment of innovative methodological systems and solutions to build the national statistical
infrastructure
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The Strategy has been reviewed and discussed at several international meetings and will be
submitted in November 2009 to the FAO Conference for adoption and in February 2010 for
endorsement by the United Nations Statistical Commission..
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A detailed presentation of the Global Strategy will be made during this AFCAS Session.
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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
1. STATISTICS DIVISION (ESS)
•
Partnership for Implementation of Global Strategy for Improving Agricultural
Statistics in Africa
•
FAO is working with several partners to quick start the implementation of some aspects of
the Global Strategy for Improvement of Statistics.
•
An informal Meeting of main Stakeholders was organized on this subject in August 2009 in
Maputo in parallel to the ISI Satellite. It was agreed that a Capacity Building Programme
could be developed for Africa, given the fact that:
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Countries in Africa Region are among those who need the most assistance to strengthen their
agricultural Statistics system
A lot of background work has already done during the last 10 years and main issues have been
identified and what needs to be done through biennial meetings of the FAO African Commission on
Agricultural Statistics (AFCAS) and several international and regional meetings
Interest of several Partners and countries to initiate action confirmed at the informal Stakeholders
meeting in Maputo in August 2009 as side event to ISI Satellite meeting on Global Strategy (selected
countries, Regional training institutions, Regional Remote Sensing Centers, Development Partners).
Main components/sub-programmes discussed and confirmed.
A preliminary proposal is being developed for a stakeholder meeting in early 2010 in Tunis
at AfDB HQs to start the development of programme components (Technical assistance
component, Training component, Research and development component).
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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
1. STATISTICS DIVISION (ESS)
FAO Capacity building strategy and programme
•
The FAO Statistics Division has developed a new Capacity Building Strategy and
programme which builds on the findings and recommendations of the external evaluation of
FAO work in statistics as well as other recent assessments of countries capacity in food and
agricultural statistics done by FAO and other Institutions, particularly PARIS21.
•
The Strategy aims at addressing the deterioration over the last decades of the capacity of
many countries in agricultural statistics (particularly in Africa).
•
Through the Programme, to be implemented in close partnership with other Agencies and
Institutions, the FAO Statistics Division will focus its assistance to member Countries on
methodologies and tools developed and consolidated by the Division and for which it has
proven expertise and comparative advantage. The assistance will be driven by national
demands and built around the Strengthening of the Institutional coordination and capacity
through the integration of Agricultural Statistics into the National Strategies for Development
of Statistics (NSDS).
•
FAO and AfDB are working together to implement this strategy in selected countries
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A detailed presentation on this Strategy will be made during this Session
Other activities
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Data on Government Expenditures on agriculture collected from African countries for
monitoring the commitment to invest 10% of national budgets in Agriculture. FAO is closely
cooperating with New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) in this undertaking.
•
The questionnaires on the State of Agricultural Statistical Systems in Africa have been sent
again to countries. .About 30 country replies have been recorded. Compiled resultants will
be presented during the Session of this Commission.
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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
2. ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN IN THE FIELD OF SEXDISAGGREGATED DATA BY FAO REGIONAL OFFICE FOR
AFRICA
•
The FAO Regional Office for Africa (RAF) continued to provide technical and financial support to
African Member Countries for in the area of gender statistics.
•
In follow-up to the recommendation that “Member Countries intensify user-producer dialogues to
facilitate the emergence of a common understanding among data producers and users on the
importance of producing gender-disaggregated agricultural statistics”, the Organization continued
to support the production of the thematic census reports entitled Gender profile of the agricultural
sector, prepared with statistical data collected by censuses in Niger and Tanzania’s.
•
In reference to the recommendation that FAO is “to ensure that the experience gained in Africa
during the 2000 WCA in the production of sex disaggregated agricultural data be built on during the
WCA 2010”, the Organization has finalized an electronic tool kit entitled “AGRI-GENDER
DATABASE, a statistical toolkit for the production of sex-disaggregated agricultural data” which will
be officially launched during this Session of the Commission.
•
Furthermore, 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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With regard to the recommendation that “Member Countries and FAO alike endeavour to fine-tune
new complex gender sensitive concepts like sub-holder and sub-holding” while “building data
producers and users’ capacity” hereto, the Organization recently re-engaged with relevant
stakeholders in Senegal, Benin and the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit for Somalia to
expand their experience in collecting such data.
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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
3. ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN IN THE FIELD OF FISHERIES
STATISTICS IN AFRICA
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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 this region, FIES
regularly updates two regional databases on capture production corresponding to the FAO
Fishing Areas “34-Eastern Central Atlantic” (from Morocco to the Democratic Rep. of the
Congo) and “47- Southeast Atlantic” (from Angola to South Africa).
In 2007, a revision of the statistical divisions for the Southeast Atlantic database was jointly
proposed and endorsed by FAO and the South East Atlantic Fisheries Organization
(SEAFO), a regional fisheries management organization which covers the high seas of the
South East Atlantic Ocean. Its Convention was signed in 2001 by Angola, Namibia, South
Africa, United Kingdom (on behalf of St. Helena and its dependencies of Tristan da Cunha
and Ascension Islands) and distant water fishing countries. The revision of the statistical
divisions aims at obtaining clearly separate data between catches taken inside and outside
Economic Exclusive Zones (EEZs) of coastal states. During the last two years, the two
organizations have been collaborating in setting up the new statistical framework and
exchanging the information received.
After the development of an inventory of marine resources and stocks, an inventory of
national fisheries in the Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic Fisheries (CECAF) area
is currently under a validation process, for eventual publishing as part of the web based
Fishery Resources Monitoring System (FIRMS). The same process is underway for the
South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission (SWIOFC) region. FIRMS is a formal
Information Partnership arrangement launched in February 2004 which currently brings
together 13 Inter-Governmental Organizations and FAO. Other similar draft inventories are
available or under development in the Benguela Current region, and in the Red Sea region.
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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
3. ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN IN THE FIELD OF FISHERIES
STATISTICS IN AFRICA
The FAO Strategy for Improving Information on Status and Trends of Capture Fisheries” (StrategySTF) was adopted by the 25th Session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI) and
endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 2003. with the overall
objective of providing a framework for the improvement of knowledge and understanding of
fishery status and trends as a basis for fisheries policy-making and sustainable
management.
•
Since the last AFCAS session, activities related to fisheries statistics supported by FAO
through the FishCode STF project include:
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The holding of two sub-Regional Workshop on Improving information on Status and Trends of
captured fisheries: i) for West Central Gulf of Guinea Region in collaboration with the newly
established Fisheries Committee West Central Gulf of Guinea (Accra, Ghana from 26 to 28 June
2007), and ii) for the Gulf of Guinea in Collaboration with the Fisheries Committee for the Gulf of
Guinea (Douala, Cameroon 15-18 April, 2008). Both workshops identified information requirements,
gaps/bottlenecks in data collection and provided recommendation for improvement.
As follow up of the sub-regional workshop, national activities for the improvement of fisheries data
collection were formulated for Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Republic of Congo,
Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo The activities are presently being implemented.
Support to the establishment of an ad hoc working group on fisheries statistics for the Fisheries
Committee West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC).
Support to the second meeting of the Working Party on Fisheries Statistics (WPFS) of the South West
Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission (SWIOFC) during 28-30 April 2008 in Mombassa, Kenya.
Development and implementation of a training course on fisheries data collection for District Fisheries
Officers in Tanzania and Kenya.
Further support to the implementation of Big Numbers Project. The Global (Big) Numbers Project
(G(B)NP) is a joint activity of FAO and WorldFish Center and funded through PROFISH and own
contributions by the two organizations.
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
3. ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN IN THE FIELD OF FISHERIES
STATISTICS IN AFRICA
FAO FIES has started a new TCP Project: TCP/GUI/3204: “Support for the establishment of a
fisheries information system for artisanal marine fisheries and inland fisheries in Guinea.
The primary goal is to review and adapt the fisheries data collection system for Guinea and
support the development of a comprehensive Fisheries Information System.
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Latest publications:
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FAO Yearbook, Fishery and Aquaculture Statistics, 2006 and 2007 (in press).
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The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2008.
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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
4. ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN IN THE FIELD OF WATER
STATISTICS IN AFRICA
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The FAO Land and Water Division (NRL) manages the AQUASTAT Programme, which is
FAO’s global information system on water and agriculture (http://www.fao.org/nr/aquastat).
Its aim is to provide users interested in global, regional and national analyses with
comprehensive information related to water resources and agricultural water management
across the world, with emphasis on countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the
Caribbean.
The information system consists of:
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Databases: The AQUASTAT main country database, as well as databases on African dams, on
institutions, on river sediment yields, and on investment costs in irrigation;
Countries and regions: Standardized text by country and by region on the state of water resources
and agricultural water use;
Climate information tool: A tool to provide climate estimates for the land surface of the globe;
Water resources: Review of the statistics of renewable water resources by country;
Agricultural water use: Review of agricultural water use by country;
Global irrigation map: Global map of irrigated areas, which is a spatial dataset on areas equipped
for irrigation;
Maps and tables: A selection of downloadable maps and datasets on water and agriculture. Georeferenced AQUASTAT information is also available on GeoNetwork;
Publications: AQUASTAT publications related to water and agriculture.
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
4. ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN IN THE FIELD OF WATER
STATISTICS IN AFRICA
•
AQUASTAT is responsible for the MDG Water Indicator 7.5, which is equal to the proportion of
renewable water resources withdrawn.
On average every 5-10 years country and regional information is updated through a detailed
questionnaire..
The online country database contains about 100 items, related to: population and geography;
climate and water resources; water use; irrigation and drainage development; and environment
and health (http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/data/query/index.html).
AQUASTAT collaborates with FAOSTAT on the one water-related item available in FAOSTAT,
which is the “Area equipped for irrigation” to ensure consistency.
AQUASTAT has been involved in the preparation of the questionnaire for the World Census on
Agriculture 2010 and Theme 3 “Irrigation and water management” follows the AQUASTAT
structure and definitions.
AQUASTAT contributes to and is a major data provider for international flagship publications,
and plays a key role in the development of the UN-Water federated water monitoring system. It
collaborates with UNSD on standardization and harmonization of water-related data and
definitions, and with the Global Water Systems Project (GWSP) on the preparation of a global
map of dams and reservoirs.
AQUASTAT concentrates on capacity building through projects: Benin, Ethiopia, Somalia Angola,
Cape Verde, Mozambique and Timor-Leste.
It organizes and participates in workshops on understanding and improving the methodologies
used for the estimation of water resources and use, in collaboration with regional economic
organizations (ECOWAS, ECLAC, ESCAP, etc.).
It collaborates with different universities and research institutions on the improvement of data,.
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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
LIST OF MAIN RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE 20th
SESSION OF AFCAS AND THEIR STATUS OF
IMPLEMENTATION
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