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some publications appear in English. Data is disseminated in various formats such as paper, CD
Rom, website, online databases and databanks, microdata is also available, albeit following
data confidentiality principles.
vii. SWOT Analysis and Needs Assessment for Agricultural Statistics in Iran
Table 71: SWOT Analysis and Needs Assessment for Iran
STRENGTHS
 Existence of legal and institutional
infrastructure for statistics
 Availability of long- term and annual
programmes
 SCI is affiliated with the planning
organization which allocate budget to
administrative organizations
 Sectorial statistics committees located in
ministries and organizations recognize the
needs of their own sectors
 Capacity for organizing large scale statistical
activities (i.e. censuses). Use of up-to-date
methodology, international norms and
classifications
 Good coordination with the line ministries
 Result oriented data production
 High quality human resources and
experienced staff
 Traditional domains (Production, Inputs,
Prices)
 International Trade data
 Physical infrastructure for statistics
 No serious budget constraint
 Communication channels are established
with FAO, World Bank, ADB, ESCWA and UN
 Language (Good knowledge of English)
 Participation in international statistical
initiatives
WEAKNESSES
 Decentralization of activities
 No effective registers systems in the
ministries
 Big delays in publication from survey time
to publication time
 Lack of statistics dissemination databases
 Databases & publications are mostly in
Persian.
 Mostly hardcopy, limited electronic
dissemination
 Non-availability of micro-data and
metadata and documentation
 Data dissemination system exists for
internal not for external use
 Missing international classifications
 Agricultural statistics missing an objective
(or philosophy)
 Not policy analysis driven
 Missing domains (Investment, Labor,
Markets, Utilization, Greenhouse,
Irrigation)
 Lack of approved job descriptions
 Lack of agricultural statistics activity
 Old or missing farm registers
 Ineffective user dialogue