Improving Agricultural Statistics in the COMCEC Region
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Timeliness: The timeliness dimension measures how agricultural statistics are updated. It
consists of 3 sub-timeliness indicators, namely primary statistics, statistical indicators and
agricultural censuses. The timeliness of the primary statistics and statistical indicators are
measured according to the most recent date of availability. The more recent the statistics or
censuses are, the higher the timeliness score will be. More precisely this is (1-delay score) as
explained in the text earlier. Timeliness variables, assumptions and scores for primary
statistics are presented in the third column of Tables 31, and those for statistical indicators are
presented in the third column of Table 32. Timeliness of agricultural censuses reflects the
degree of participation in the four “World Census of Agriculture Program” rounds (2 points
each) and in particularly in the most recent 2010 round (2 additional points). The scores for
the timeliness of agricultural censuses can be found in Table 18 under the participation
column.
Methodology: The fourth dimension – methodology – consists of 4 indicators. The first
indicator is the use of international norms, classifications and registers. These are
International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC), Central Product Classification (CPC),
Standard International Trade Classification (SITC), Harmonized System (HS), System of
National Accounts (SNA), Economic Accounts for Agriculture (EAA), timeliness of EAA,
availability and use of registers. The second indicator is the agricultural census methodology,
based on the survey conducted by UDA on the methodologies used by COMCEC Member
Countries in their most recent agricultural censuses. The detailed results of the survey are
provided in Annex 2 and their evaluation in Table 18. Second subject of the review was the
evaluation of the methodologies used in the agricultural censuses. This is done by looking at
five indicators, namely the availability of metadata, frames used, whether the agricultural
census was integrated with the population census, whether a full census or a sample survey
was conducted, and finally the geographical and commodity coverage of the census. The third
indicator is the sources used for agricultural statistics as given in the fourth column of
Table 31. The fourth indicator is the geographical detail in agricultural statistics as provided in
the fifth column of Table 31. The methodology indicators, variables and scores are presented
in Table 33.