Using Agriculture Statistics for agriculture policies, action and practices Regional Conference: Evidence to Action towards an evidence based and data-informed policy, Action and Practice in Africa 25 - 26 July 2017, Accra, Ghana

Introduction - Background Framework: Action Plan for Africa (AP) of the Global Strategy (GS) for Improving Agricultural and Rural Statistics adopted in 2011 Implementation period of the AP: 2011-2018 Main objective of the Global Strategy (GS): To improve NASS capacity so that they can produce the needed quantity data of the sector, and with the required quality

AP of the GS Development process: Implementing partners: Funded by: Developed since 2010 (by AfDB, ECA, FAO & AUC) and published in May 2011; Inclusive/participatory process -> Owned by RMCs; and Co-signed by Executive Chiefs of FAO, AfDB, ECA, AUC. Implementing partners: AfDB; UNECA; and FAO. Funded by: BMGF and DfID through GTF; EU; and AfDB.

Introduction – background cont’d Pillars/Specific objectives of the GS: Production of the Minimum Set of Core Data (MSCD); Integration of agriculture into NSS: Through NSDS, Master sample frame for agriculture, Integrated survey framework and Data management system, development policies, etc.; and Foundation providing the sustainability of the agricultural statistics system: governance & and statistical capacity building.

Transformation Agenda of the Bank: High 5s Building on the existing TYS of the Bank, 2013 – 2022 which is consistent with the SDGs Light up and power Africa; Feed Africa - {supply data to inform on the progress towards the implementation}; Industrialize Africa; Integrate Africa; and Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa.

Components of the framework The 3 technical components play complimentary roles to achieve the objective of the AP for Africa Governance Mechanism/Technical Assistance; Training; and Research. Research component products=Key inputs to achieve it Training component=Means for capacity building (institutions to train on agricultural statistics)

Governance mechanism Global Level: operating at national, regional and global levels by GO- FAO to implement the global plan, set standards, ensure harmonization across regions and coordinate with other global initiatives; Regional level: for the Action plan for Africa provides an institutional framework and coordination arrangements for the implementation of the strategy – RSTC, Executive Committee, Reg. Implementation Secretariat (RIS), REC/SRO; National level: main beneficiaries of the GS are the countries for robust agric. Stat. for evidence based policy and decision making.

Technical Assistance component Purpose: To help African countries to adopt more cost effective methods and procedures for agriculture and rural statistics; improve and strengthen institutional, organizational, and technical capacities for the development of their National Agricultural Statistical Systems, based on a detailed assessment of their capacities and needs. Elements of the technical assistance Development of institutional and organizational capacities; Design of Strategic Plan for Agricultural and Rural Statistics (SPARS) as an integral part of the National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS); Development and harmonization of data sources; and Data harmonization and management. TA key achievements Country Assessment process -> Successfully completed for 2013 and 2015 Ref Years; SPARS – High demand -> Focus on Strategic planning for 2014-2016; and TA’s on newly developed cost-effective methods -> Focus for 2017-2018.

Training component Purpose: to strengthen the capacity of agencies concerned with the collection, consolidation, and use of agricultural statistics; Increasing knowledge, skills, and competencies of personnel; and Strengthening and sustaining the capacity of statistical training centres to develop and deliver required quality training in agricultural statistics and related subjects;

Research Component Purpose: Develop and disseminate advanced and cost-effective methodologies, tools, and standards related to the pillars of the GS; and Dissemination is done through guidelines, handbooks, and documentation of good practices in priority research topics such as master sampling frame for integrated survey, data collection methods, food security, market information, data analysis and administrative data. e.g. SPARS guidelines, Handbook on MSF for agricultural statistics, handbook on Agricultural cost of production statistics among others ref. http://gsars.org/en/category/publications/handbooks-guidelines/

Country Assessment To measure the capacity of African countries to produce timely, reliable and sustainable agricultural statistics: For establishing baseline data or information and to monitor and evaluate the performance of the AP implementation in countries in Africa; This is scheduled to be carried biennially starting from 2013, 2015 and 2017; The results helps to determine country level of activities during and after programme implementation; and The major output of the CA is the Agricultural Statistics Capacity Indicators (ASCIs).

Agricultural Statistics Capacity Indicators (ASCI): Composition

ASCIs in Africa by Dimension - 2013 and 2015

Change in Agricultural Statistics Capacities in Africa between 2013 and 2015

ASCI results for Africa

Major challenges of NSS/NASS in Africa Organizational challenges: Inadequate resources: financial, HR, Leadership Management, policies; and Lack of enabling infrastructure: Stat & IT infrastructure. Institutional Legislation; Poor or lack of coordination; and Lack of integrated system. Technical Subsistence agriculture: mixed cropping and repeated harvesting, etc.; and Methodological: Area and production measurement.

SPARS = A response to Challenges It responses to the Pillar 2 of the AP of the GS: integrating agriculture into the NSS (through Master sample frame for agriculture, Integrated survey framework and Data management system): To address developing countries’ lack of capacity to produce reliable statistical data on food and agriculture; To provide a blueprint for long-term sustainable agricultural statistical systems. SPARS=One of the elements of the TA component Design Strategic Plans for Agricultural and rural Statistics (SPARS) in the context of NSDS

SPARS development process - A key Technical Assistance activity Field testing of SPARS guidelines – Jointly by FAO/AfDB Carried out in Burundi in March 2014 and also a country request to develop their SPARS Technical Assistance on SPARS based on country needs/requests (24 countries) 7 SPARSs completed for: Benin, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya and Senegal 1 SPARS at an advanced stage level in: Burkina Faso 4 SPARSs at assessing stage: Ghana, Niger, Rwanda, Zambia 9 SPARSs Launching stage: Chad, Congo Rep, Eq. Guinea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Lesotho, Togo; 3 SPARSs to be launched very soon: DRC, Sao Tome & Principe, and Seychelles Accelerating SPARS development: Regional training workshops on SPARS, in Burkina Faso and Zambia

Benefits: Agricultural statistics for policies, actions and practices Data (MSCD) enter into a multitude of indicators needed to monitor and evaluate development policies, food security, and progress toward meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) At National level: For countries to prepare their respective national strategies/action plans; inputs to the national accounts: Poverty Reduction Strategies; National Investment plans;

Benefits: Agricultural statistics for policies, actions and practices - cont’d At Regional level: AfDB – TYS and High 5’s especially the “Feed Africa initiative” After the High level ministerial meeting in Dakar (Oct. 2015) – A transformative Agenda on Agriculture in Africa; contribute to the end of poverty; (ii) end hunger and malnutrition; (iii) make Africa a net food exporter; and (iv) move Africa to the top of export-orientated value chains where it has comparative advantage; The MSCD feeding the development indicators to monitor the implementation of the Feed Africa

Benefits: Agricultural statistics for policies, actions and practices - cont’d NEPAD/CAADP – Malabo Declaration on African Agriculture and CAADP (June 2014); Data feeding indicators for the commitment to agricultural growth and transformation – ending hunger by 2025; halving poverty through inclusive growth and transformation; and boosting intra-African trade in agricultural economies At Global level: Inputs to the global balances of supply and demand for food and other agricultural products Contributing to SDGs 1 and 2 (thus No Poverty and Zero hunger resp.) by 2030

Challenges on the use of Agric. Statistics Dialogue between producers and users of data (usually on ad-hoc basis); Surveys are not capitalized; Agriculture sector: harmonization of data from the various sub- sectors; Data not generally accessible by users; Case of Ghana:

Best practices SPARS – framework for production of agricultural statistics which is aligned with policy documents; MSCD: countries are able to identify inconsistencies in their respective statistics systems and have requested for TA on time series and data reconciliation (to streamline their systems);

Conclusion An improved and sustained agricultural statistical system immensely contribute to the consistent production of required data for users at both national and international level for policy formulation and decision making to contribute to the improvement of livelihoods.

Thank you