COMCEC Agriculture Outlook 2017
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1. Macro Agricultural Indicators
Macro agricultural indicators provide an overview of agricultural sector in an economy. They
present the bigger picture and show the overall agricultural performance in a country. They
can also be used to compare the performances of individual or groups of counties over time,
among themselves, or with the rest of the world.
The value of total agricultural output, the share of agricultural production in an economy, the
growth rate of the sector, agricultural population, contribution of agricultural sector to total
employment, the share of agriculture in total exports and imports, and export/import ratios
are useful macro indicators to assess the role and performance of agriculture in OIC member
countries.
1.1. Agricultural Value Added
The agriculture sector in developing countries is one of the leading sectors in terms of its
contributions to income. It is also the most effective sector in generating income for the
poorest segment of the population, and hence of crucial importance for their welfare.2
Suitability of ecological conditions, availability of natural resources, human capacity to carry
out agricultural activities, and existence of production and marketing infrastructures play a
crucial role in generating agricultural output and income. Agricultural sector is of critical
importance for many OIC member countries; especially for the LDCs. The level of dependence
on agriculture of overall economic growth is very high in many of the Member Countries.
The significance of agriculture in national economies varies extensively. While in many least
developed countries, agriculture accounts for more than 50 percent of GDP, in many high
income economies such as the members of
(OECD), agriculture constitutes less than 1.5 percent of overall economic output.
Thus, the role of agriculture in overall economic growth will vary from country to country, and
in general, agriculture is more important in poorer countries. In other words, in the least
developed countries, one of the major drivers of overall economic growth is agriculture. This is
largely due to higher income elasticity of demand for non-agricultural goods and services. As
their incomes grow, consumers increase their consumption of manufactured goods and
services faster than their consumption of agricultural goods.3 In line with the theory of
economic development, this characteristic of agriculture can be clearly observed in the OIC as
a whole.
2 COMCEC, 2012
3 Cervantes-Godoy and Dewbre