Improving Agricultural Statistics in the COMCEC Region
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National and International Statistical Web Pages and Databases: National and
International web pages and online databases were a valuable source of information to
complement the data obtained from SSAQ and country visits. They also clearly show the
visibility and availability of member countries’ agricultural statistics to users. Non-existence of
web pages for some and databases for most countries was also a good indicator of the state of
agricultural statistics in these countries. The FAOSTAT database, CountrySTAT and Statistics
Division web pages of FAO were especially useful. The World Bank, UN Statistics Division
(UNSD) and and Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Center for Islamic
Countries (SESRIC) were important resources for the current study. A comprehensive review
of the agricultural statistics web pages of all COMCEC Member Countries were conducted by
visiting each web page, searching for available data, features provided and ease of use, to
compile an indicator for accessibility scoring.
Previous National and International Studies: Over the past 5 years several similar studies
were conducted by international organizations such as FAO, World Bank, IMF, Regional
Development Banks such as AfDB, ADB, EBRD within the context of the Global Strategy to
Improve Agricultural and Rural Statistics. FAO has been conducting Standard Country
Assessment Questionnaires and Statistical Metadata Questionnaires to assess the state of
agriculture in its member countries. The results of these surveys have been presented in their
regional meetings in Africa, Asia, Near East and Central Asia. These surveys contain
information on some COMCEC Member Countries, similar to the ones compiled in the present
study. Some countries also prepared self-assessment reports on agricultural statistical system
similar to the case studies prepared for this study.
2.3 Review of National and International Studies
Many countries, especially in the developing world, lack the capacity to produce and report
even the minimum set of agricultural data necessary to meet the national and international
user demand. The quantity and quality of data derived from national official sources has been
on a steady decline since the early 1980s. It is found, for example, that “official data
submissions from countries in Africa are at their lowest level since before 1961, with only one
in four African countries reporting basic crop production data”.14
As mentioned before, concerned about declining quantity and quality of agricultural statistics,
and in response to the many challenges of meeting existing and emerging user needs for
agricultural statistics in developing countries, a Global Strategy to Improve Agricultural and
Rural Statistics was produced and endorsed in February 2010 by the United Nations Statistical
Commission (UNSC). The purpose of the Global Strategy is to provide a framework and
methodology that will help improve the availability and quality of national and international
food and agricultural statistics, to guide policy analysis and decision making in the 21st
century. The Global Strategy is based on three pillars15:
 The first pillar is the establishment of a minimum set of core data that countries will collect
to meet current and emerging demands.
14 World Bank, 2011.
15 World Bank, 2011;1.