COMCEC Agriculture Outlook 2018
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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. 1 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, inmany 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.2 In line with the theory of economic development, this
characteristic of agriculture can be clearly observed in the OIC as a whole.
1 COMCEC, 2012
2 Cervantes-Godoy and Dewbre