1. Handbook on Rural Household Livelihood and Well-being
Statistics on Rural Development and Agricultural Household Income

2. Origins
Background of rural development and agricultural income issues at Meetings of Food and Agricultural Statistics in Europe
Topic at all three World Conferences of Agricultural Statisticians
Issues a focus of IWG-Agri Group meetings
Team effort of a Task Force set up by IWG-Agri, coordinated by UNECE

3. Origins Contributions from authors of chapters, reviewers and editors
Main text now in process of final editing, but with some gaps to fill
Aim – completed Handbook later in 2005
Living document – subject to revision and improvement
FAO to be guardian of the electronic version

4. Contents I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
PART I - RURAL DEVELOPMENT STATISTICS
PART II - AGRICULTURE HOUSEHOLD INCOME AND WEALTH
ANNEXE

5. Part I – Rural Development Statistics
II NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL RURAL DEVELOPMENT POLICIES
III. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK APPLIED BY INTZERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
IV. INVENTORY OF NATIONAL APPROACHES TO RURAL DEVELOPMENT STATISTICS
V. INVENTORY OF RURAL INDICATORS BY INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
VI. MEASUREMENT ISSUES, DATA SOURCES AND METHODOLOGIES
VII. RECOMMENDED CORE SET OF INDICATORS AND EXTENDED SETS

6. Part II – Agricultural household income and wealth
VIII CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK - INTRODUCTION
IX THE AGRICULTURAL HOUSEHOLD – CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS
X DEFINITIONS OF INCOME
XI INCOME DISTRIBUTION AND POVERTY
XII WEALTH
XIII INVENTORY OF AGRICULTURAL INCOME STATISTICS
XIV FINDINGS AND GOOD PRACTICES

7. Chapter 1 – Introduction and background
I.1 Background to the handbook
I Why is the handbook being produced?
I Who is the handbook intended for?
I The role of statistics
The quality of indicators / Data sources to be used / The geographical unit
I.2 What is rural development and why is it a policy area?
Common problems in OECD countries / Developing countries
I.3 Rural development – policy objectives
I.4 Why a particular focus on agriculture household income and wealth?
I.5 Agriculture households, their incomes and policy objectives

8. Why is the Handbook being produced?
Strong and increasing policy interest in rural development among rich and poor countries
Aim to provide methodological help by
Consolidating existing work
Highlighting differences occur between international organisations
Fill gaps where possible

9. Who is it intended for? To assist compilers of relevant statistics
Wide range of other users of rural development statistics and agricultural household income measures

10. Role of statistics
Policy driven – problem analysis and need identification, monitoring and evaluation
Affected by quality – relevance, timeliness, clearly defined, easily interpreted, sensitive to policy action etc.
Often depend on existing data sources
Compromises inevitable

11. Rural development policy
Different but overlapping issues among OECD and developing countries
Policy objectives include
Population stability
Diversified industry base (beyond agriculture)
Accessibility and availability of services
Good physical and mental health
Participatory decision-making

12. Why focus on agricultural household income and wealth?
Historically important rural sector, though now much reduced in many countries
Still major controllers of land use (environmental importance)
Often seen as engine for rural development
Rural development policy often rooted in agricultural policy
Target group for agricultural policy
Incomes are a particular focus