Annexes

Annex 1
AGENDA AND TIMETABLE

Annex 2
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

BANGLADESH

1. Mr Abdur Rashid Sikder
   Director
   Agriculture Wing
   Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
   Planning Division
   Ministry of Planning
   E 27/A, Agargaon
   Dhaka 1207
   Tel: (880-2) 9137322
   Fax: (880-2) 9111064
   Email: [email protected]

BHUTAN

2. Mr Karpo Dukpa
   Statistical Assistant Officer
   Policy and Planning Division
   Ministry of Agriculture
   P.O. Box 252
   Thimphu
   Tel: (975-2) 323745
   Fax: (975-2) 323748
   Email: [email protected]
              [email protected]

CAMBODIA

3. Mr Chek Nann
   Deputy Director
   Department of Planning and Statistics
   Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
   200 Presh Norodom Blvd.
   Phnom Penh
   Tel: (855) 23720527
   Fax: (855) 23720527
   Email: [email protected]

CHINA

4. Mr Shaomin Li
   Statistics Expert
   Information Department
   Ministry of Agriculture
   No. 11, Nongzhanguan Nanli, Chaoyang District
   Beijing 100026
   Tel: (86-10) 64192002
   Fax: (86-10) 64192468
   Email: [email protected]

FIJI

5. Ms Maria Moa Ledua
   Economic Planning Officer
   Economic Planning and Statistics Division,
   Ministry of Agriculture, Sugar and Land Resettlement
   Private Mail Bag, Raiwaqa
   Suva
   Tel: (679) 3384233
   Fax: (679) 3385048
   Email: [email protected]

INDIA

6. Mr Dhrijesh Kumar Tiwari
   Deputy Director
   Directorate of Economics and Statistics
   Ministry of Agriculture
   Krishi Bhawan
   New Delhi, 110001
   Tel: (91-11) 23383642
   Fax: (91-11) 23382236
   Email: [email protected]

INDONESIA

7. Mr Ardief Achmad
   Director
   Agricultural Statistics, BPS-Statistics Indonesia, Jalan Dr. Sutomo No. 8
   Jakarta 10710
   Tel: (62-21) 3857048
   Fax: (62-21) 3857048
   Email: [email protected]

IRAN

8. Mr Mahmoud Saeedi
   Head Information Section
   Bureau of Statistics & Information Technology
   Ministry of Jahad-e-Agriculture
   Keshavarz Blvd
   Tehran 14155
   Tel.: (98-21) 6122141
   Fax: (98-21) 88270170
   Email: [email protected]

LAO PDR

9. Mr Savanh Hanephom
   Director
   Statistics Division
   Department of Planning
   Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
   P.O. Box 811
   Vientiane
   Tel: (856-21) 415359
   Fax: (856-21) 451715
   Email: [email protected]

MYANMAR

10. Mr Win Htoon Nee
    Deputy Director General
    Settlement and Land Records Department
    Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation
    Thiri Mingalar Lan,
    P.O. off Kaba aye Pagoda Road
    Yangon
    Tel.: (95-1) 665681
    Fax: (95-1) 664899
    Email: [email protected];
               [email protected]
               [email protected]

NEPAL

11. Mr Rabi Singh
    Deputy Director General
    Central Bureau of Statistics
    Ram Shah Path, Thapathali
    Kathmandu
    Tel: (977-1) 4245848
    Fax: (977-1) 4227720
    Email: [email protected]

PAKISTAN

12. Mr Mushtaq Hussain Syed
    Economist Consultant
    Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock
    Room No. 813 Floor Shaheed-e-Millat
    Secretariat, Jinnah Avenue
    Islamabad
    Tel.: (92-51) 9266085
    Fax: (92-51) 9208372

PHILIPPINES

13. Mr Romeo Recide
    Director
    Bureau of Agricultural Statistics
    Department of Agriculture
    Ben-lor Building, 1184 Quezon Avenue
    Quezon City
    Tel: (63-2) 3712050
    Fax: (63-2) 3712086
    Email: [email protected]

SRI LANKA

14. Mr A.M.U. Dissanayake
    Director
    Agriculture Division
    Department of Census and Statistics
    No. 30 Asoka Garden
    Colombo 4
    Tel: (94-1) 1-2502953
    Fax: (94-1) 1-2502953
    Email: [email protected]

THAILAND

15. Mr Montol Jeamchareon
    Director
    Center for Agricultural Information
    Office of Agricultural Economics
    Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives
    Kasetsart University Campus
    Phaholyothin Road, Jatuchak
    Bangkok 10900
    Tel: (66-2) 5793607
    Fax: (66-2) 9405521
    Email: [email protected]

VIET NAM

16. Mr Pham Quang Vinh
    Director
    Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
    General Statistics Office
    No. 2 Hoang Van Thu Street
    Hanoi
    Tel.: (84-4) 8463522
    Fax: (88-4) 7341015
    Email: [email protected]

JAPAN

17. Mr Kenji Kamikura
    Senior Statistician
    Statistics Planning Division
    Statistics Department
    Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and Fisheries
    1-2-1 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku
    Tokyo 100-8950
    Tel: 81-3-3502-8111 ext. 2659
    Fax: 81-3-3501-9644
    Email: [email protected]

18. Mr Naoyasu Murayama
    First Secretary and Deputy Permanent Rep. of
    Japan to United Nations
    Embassy of Japan
    1674 New Petchburi Road
    Bangkok 10320
    Tel.: (66-2) 2526151 Ext. 253
    Fax: (66-2) 2539863
    Email: [email protected]

JICA (OBSERVER)

19. Mr Eiichi Miyajima
    EAERR Coordinator
    JICA Expert
    Office of Agricultural Economics
    Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives
    Kasetsart University Campus
    Phaholyothin Road, Jatuchak
    Bangkok 10900
    Tel. (66-2) 5794826
    Fax. (66-2) 5794840
    Email: [email protected]

20. Mr Masaaki Sasaki
    Chief Advisor, JICA Expert
    ASEAD Project
    Office of Agricultural Economics
    Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives
    Kasetsart University Campus
    Phaholyothin Road, Jatuchak
    Bangkok 10900
    Tel/Fax: (66-2) 5790976
    Email: [email protected]

21. Mr Shunichi Furukawa
    JICA Expert, ASEAD Project
    Office of Agricultural Economics
    Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives
    Kasetsart University Campus
    Phaholyothin Road, Jatuchak
    Bangkok 10900
    Tel: (66-2) 5613454, 9406642
    Fax: (66-2) 9406358
    Email: [email protected]

22. Mr Issei Jinguji
    JICA Expert, ASEAD Project
    Office of Agricultural Economics
    Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives
    Kasetsart University Campus
    Phaholyothin Road, Chatuchak
    Bangkok 10900
    Tel/Fax: (66-2) 5790976
    Email: [email protected]

23. Mr Shunichi Yokobori
    JICA Expert, ASEAD Project
    Office of Agricultural Economics
    Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives,
    Kasetsart University Phaholyothin Road,
    Jatuchak
    Bangkok 10900
    Tel/Fax: (66-2) 5790976
    Email: [email protected]

MALAYSIA (OBSERVER)

24. Mr Zuraidy Zainal Abidin
    Assistant Director
    Agriculture Census Division
    Department of Statistics Malaysia
    Level 8 Block C6 Parcel C
    Government Administrative Centre
    Putrajaya 623000
    Tel: (603) 88857076
    Fax:(603) 88894032
    Email: [email protected]

25. Ms Mariam Baba
    Assistant Director
    Agriculture Census Division
    Department of Statistics Malaysia
    Level 8 Block C6 Parcel C
    Government Administrative Centre
    Putrajaya 623000
    Tel: (603) 88857160
    Fax: (603) 88894032
    Email: [email protected]

FAO RAP

26. Mr Frederick Baker
    Senior Statistician
    39 Phra Atit Road
    Bangkok 10200
    Tel: (66-2) 6974250
    Fax: (66-2) 6974445
    Email: [email protected]

27. Mr David Dawe
    Senior Food System Economist
    39 Phra Atit Road
    Bangkok 10200
    Tel: (66-2) 6974250
    Fax: (66-2) 6974445
    Email: [email protected]

28. Ms Nanae Yabuki
    Policy Officer, FAO RAP
    39 Phra Atit Road
    Bangkok 10200
    Tel: (66-2) 6974250
    Fax: (66-2) 6974445
    Email: [email protected]

29. Mr Takeshi Hagino
    Agricultural Statistics Expert
    39 Phra Atit Road
    Bangkok 10200
    Tel: (66-2) 6974354
    Fax: (66-2) 6974407
    Email: [email protected]

30. Ms Rebecca Cajilig
    Consultant
    Kaset Villa, Soi Khunying
    Bangkhen
    Bangkok 10200
    Tel: (66-02) 9412686
    Email: [email protected]

31. Ms Luisa Kosaisaevee
    Secretary, FAO RAP
    39 Phra Atit Road
    Bangkok 10200
    Tel: (66-2) 6974355
    Fax: (66-2) 6974407
    Email: [email protected]

Annex 3
Welcome Address

He Changchui
Assistant Director-General and FAO Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific

It is my great pleasure to extend to you a warm welcome to this fourth meeting of the Focal Points for the project Strengthening Regional Data Exchange System on Food and Agricultural Statistics in Asia and the Pacific Countries (RDES). The main objectives of the project are to implement an electronics-based regional data exchange system for the participating countries and to strengthen national capacity to analyse data on food and agricultural statistics.

This project — carried out by FAO — was recently extended through 2007 with generous financial contributions from the Government of Japan. On behalf of FAO and the participating countries, I would like to express our gratitude and appreciation for Japan’s continued support to food and agricultural development in the region, specifically in the sector of agricultural statistics.

The United Nations, at its recently concluded 60^th General Assembly, has recommitted to intensifying international effort and cooperation to meet the Millennium Development Goals, and has noted the slow progress made in the implementation of the MDGs. According to FAO's latest estimates (2004), the number of hungry people in the Asia-Pacific region has declined by 50 million only since 1996, an average yearly reduction of six million.

In order to achieve the internationally agreed goals, in particular, the overarching MDG1, which explicitly recognizes the inter-relationship between hunger and poverty and the imperative of reducing both, all stakeholders — the governments, international organizations, donors and NGOs — must redouble their efforts and re-assess their roles and actions.

Food and agricultural statistics’ agencies should play an important role in this effort by providing decision-makers with reliable and timely information related to agriculture, forestry and fisheries as well as commerce and trade. This information will enable formulation of appropriate policies and actions for the agricultural sector.

FAO has always been at the forefront of promoting and providing technical assistance to member countries in establishing and developing strong agricultural statistical systems at the national, sub-regional, regional and global levels. FAO has continued efforts in support of censuses of agriculture. It will soon publish the World Programme for the Census of Agriculture 2010. This is a most important survey not only for a snapshot of the existing global structure of agriculture, but also as a reliable and up-to-date basis for sampling frames.

Food and agricultural statistics in countries in the Asia and Pacific region have undergone dramatic changes during the last 20 years. Although national reporting systems continue to be a major source of data in many countries, sample surveys have gradually been introduced into statistical systems.

With rapid social and economic development in the region and the rapid advancement of new technological tools, such as powerful ICT technologies, this project has developed the Regional Data Exchange System (RDES) using Internet technology. Since the project launched the RDES in 2002, the RDES has been supplying valuable updates to the databases for the region, giving users an opportunity to review at national and sub-national levels, information about the area, production and yield of major agricultural commodities as well as data about livestock in participating countries.

By using the RDES, statistical agencies have been able to better respond to requests from policy-makers, planners of agricultural development and data users from the private sector for more detailed, timely and reliable information.

In addition, the project has achieved remarkable results at the country level, such as Internet-based access to RDES national and sub-national data for all 16 participating countries. I note in this respect that these national pages are regularly updated by the country Focal Points themselves. The project is also endeavouring to include RDES data from non-participating countries such as other APCAS members, as well as from developed countries.

At this stage, it is considered important for the RDES to further provide capacity-building support to participating countries regarding the analysis of agricultural data on the RDES. I understand that this fourth meeting of Focal Points for the project will serve as a forum to introduce new project activities, to review the RDES, to discuss its development and to agree on future outputs.

The meeting offers a timely opportunity to further fine-tune your requirements and expectations from the project. Let me re-iterate that while FAO is taking the lead in the implementation of this project with support from the Government of Japan, the ultimate beneficiaries of the project are the people in the participating countries, including the hungry and malnourished whose livelihoods will improve from enhanced planning and more effective policies.

I therefore call upon you to join with FAO to make every effort to improve agricultural statistics in your countries and the region and to provide reliable indicators to decision-makers for the development of policies and in monitoring and evaluating their effectiveness. Your discussions this week will be beneficial for your countries and the whole Asia and the Pacific region. It will accelerate the formulation of appropriate agricultural policies and the development of rural areas, while ensuring adequate supplies of food for populations, and the achievement of sustainable growth.

In conclusion, I wish you a successful outcome for the meeting and an enjoyable stay in the city of Bangkok.

Annex 4
Opening Statement

Kenji Kamikura
Senior Statistician, Statistics Planning Division
Statistics Department, MAFF, Japan

It is my great pleasure as a representative of the donor country to thank you for attending this fourth meeting of the Focal Points for the project Strengthening Regional Data Exchange System on Food and Agricultural Statistics.

To begin with, I deeply appreciate that throughout its history, FAO has continued the improvement of agricultural statistics, especially in the Asia and Pacific region.

Japan considers it vitally important that all countries produce and share reliable statistical data for the food and agriculture sector for the improvement of global food security. In this context, we have contributed to a trust fund in FAO since 1998 for the improvement and standardization of agricultural statistics as well as statistical data exchange in Asia and Pacific Countries (APCs). Also, an Agricultural Statistics Expert has been posted to the FAO Regional Office in Bangkok to promote the implementation of the project.

The Japanese Government posted Mr Eura as the first project Expert. This second stage of the project has been operational since December 2001; objectives were the improvement of agricultural statistics in member countries and the development of a Regional Data Exchange System on Food and Agricultural Statistics in APCs. The project has already succeeded in creating webpages for a regional data exchange network. The network enables us to share food and agricultural statistics at national and regional levels among countries in the Asia and Pacific region and FAO. I would like to congratulate FAO on this achievement and express our thanks to each of you for your contributions.

Although the project ended in December last year, Japan sought for continuation of the project for member countries despite stringent budget circumstances. Thus, the project has been extended until 2007. The work is so important for the region that Japan posted Mr Hagino as the second Expert on 1 June 2005. New objectives are: (1) to widen its coverage of food and agricultural data, (2) to broaden country participation in the project and (3) focus on strengthening the capacity of member countries to analyse food and agricultural statistics in order to assist policy-making and planning for agricultural development, particularly for food security and poverty alleviation. Japan intends to continue its assistance and expects the active participation of the member countries.

At this juncture, I would like to mention another project, which started in January 2003 through Japanese support — the ASEAN Food Security Information System (AFSIS). This project has created an ASEAN Food Security Information Network on the basis of the system developed by the FAO project and stored data from the ASEAN+3 countries. On behalf of the AFSIS project donor, I would like to express our appreciation of FAO’s assistance to AFSIS.

These two projects share the common target of assisting member countries in collecting and exchanging reliable data on food and agriculture. I believe that close collaboration between them will make great contributions to food security in the region.

Especially, I would like to stress the importance of the World Census of Agriculture 2010 which is essential for statistical development in the region and furthers understanding of agricultural trends in each country. I understand that FAO is currently developing the Census programme so I call upon you to collaborate with FAO by making every effort to carry out the Census in your country.

At this Focal Points meeting, I understand that member countries will report their project activities and the FAO Expert will propose developments for the RDES and implementation of national seminars. The Focal Points meeting will be followed by a Technical Consultation that addresses Data Analysis for Policy Making and Decision Making. At the meeting, you will learn about the present status of data analysis and future prospects in member countries.

As I mentioned earlier, the project will provide further impetus for further development of the RDES on food and agricultural statistics and food security in the region. Success depends for the most part upon member countries’ participation. I expect all of the Focal Points attending this meeting to work actively on the management of the data exchange system, collection of necessary data and collaboration with institutions and agencies concerned with effective data utilization. I believe your efforts will enable the project to achieve its goals.

Annex 5
List of Items and Description Codes

Annex 6
Review of the Workplan for GCP/RAS/184/JPN

Takeshi HAGINO
Agricultural Statistics Expert

OUTLINE OF THE WORKPLAN

1. BACKGROUND

Agriculture is the mainstay of the economies of the countries of Asia and the Pacific region. Economic growth in these countries is substantially influenced by the growth of agriculture. It is central to strategies for planning socio-economic development; a high rate of agricultural growth is essential achieving food security at macro and micro levels and reducing poverty levels.

Food and agricultural statistics play an important role in agricultural development by providing decision-makers with a reliable and timely description of the agricultural sector. This information enables them to develop appropriate policies on agriculture and on the development of rural areas, while ensuring adequate supplies of food to the population, and achieving sustainable growth of the national economy.

Food and agricultural statistics in Asia and Pacific countries have undergone dramatic changes during the last 20 years. Although reporting systems continue to be a major source of data in many countries, sample surveys have become more prominent in statistical systems. National statistical publications are now being issued on a regular basis and many countries are introducing modern information technology systems for data processing, analysis and dissemination. More timely and more reliable food and agriculture statistics are expected to benefit national agricultural development, food security and poverty alleviation, as well as policy development, evaluation and monitoring.

However, despite the significant progress made in collecting food and agriculture data, many countries in Asia and the Pacific are still facing difficulties in obtaining reliable and timely data and in carrying out efficient data analysis and dissemination of the results. Methodologies for collection and processing of data can be improved in a number of countries, and new and modern techniques for data collection, analysis and dissemination can be applied and corresponding capacity-building programmes can be planned and implemented.

Formulated by the project GCP/RAS/171/JPN, the RDES was developed and the project Web site became operational. By accessing this Web site through the Internet, APCAS countries participating in the project have been able to upload national and sub-national food and agriculture statistics into the RDES for users worldwide to view and/or download. The next step is to expand the RDES to the remaining APCAS countries.

In the first regional project, the types of data analyses for agricultural policy implemented by the countries in the region were reviewed. This review concluded that national statistical data analyses are in various stages of development in the region and that the countries need continued technical assistance for developing or strengthening national capacity in analytical technologies for food and agricultural statistics.

2. IMMEDIATE OBJECTIVES, OUTPUTS AND ACTIVITIES

2.1. Immediate Objective One

To implement the RDES for food and agriculture statistics in all APCAS countries.

Output 1.1 Installation of the RDES in the remaining APCAS countries

Output 1.2 Region-wide standards for data in the RDES and its modification to facilitate sustainability after completion of the project

2.2. Immediate Objective Two

To strengthen national capacity to analyse food and agricultural statistics in support of national agricultural development policy and planning, including associated food security and poverty alleviation concerns.

Output 2.1 Meetings of national Focal Points convened to address specific subjects of the project

Output 2.2 National seminars, regional workshop and capacity-building training focused on use of statistical data for analysing issues on sustained agricultural development, food insecurity and poverty

Output 2.3 Recommendations for food and agriculture statistics analysis techniques in support of effective decision making, planning, targeted policies and programme formulation such as GDP analysis, food balance sheets, mapping, country/sub-country profiles, etc.

Output 2.4 Capacity-building tools for strengthening analysis skills at national levels, such as training videos, manuals, demonstration webpages, etc.

3. INPUTS

3.1. Inputs of APCAS Member Countries

Countries will nominate national Focal Points who will be the liaisons for project activities and who will participate in regional meetings as may be required. These focal points will be nominated in consultation with the FAO RAP Senior Statistician in his/her capacity as Secretary of APCAS. Candidates should come from the department in charge of agricultural statistics and have responsibilities for the management and implementation of programmes in this field. The focal points will maintain the data from their respective countries.

Members of APCAS from developed countries are welcome to participate in project activities, especially for regional-level undertakings.

3.2. Contributions of the Donor Government (Japan)

The donor is expected to fund project activities. The funds will be used for the following budgetary items. The balance of the budget from the previous phase of the project will be used to support travel costs for participants’ invitations and training costs for organization of the Second Focal Points meeting sponsored by the project.

1. Staff Costs

   1. Professional

      An Agricultural Statistics Expert/Project Manager will be assigned to provide advice on project implementation, including the preparation of the Project Implementation Workplan, periodic budget revisions, recruitment of consultants, training, monitoring and evaluation of project progress (Years 4: 7 months, Year 5: 12 months, Year 6: 5 months).

   2. General Service

      Administrative Support Staff (Secretary) to support the Agricultural Statistics Expert (Years 4 & 5: 12 months, Year 6: 4 months).

2. Consultants

   International Consultant on capacity-building training for data analysis
   To develop capacity-building tools for data analysis and to assist in the preparation and conduct of regional capacity-building training on data analysis (Year 5: 1 month, Year 6: 1 month).

3. Contracts

   1. Contracts with private firms for Internet web-hosting service to maintain the webpage of the project (3 years).

   2. Contracts with national institutions for organization of national seminars on data analysis (Year 4: 1 country, Year 5: 7 countries).

4. Travel

   1. Duty travel for the Agricultural Statistics Expert to member countries of the project in support of project activities.

   2. Backstopping mission by FAO RAP to the participating countries of the project and from FAO headquarters to Bangkok.

   3. Participants at regional meetings, which are meetings of focal points and regional workshop/training (Year 4: 4 days, Year 6: 8 days).

      Note: Under this project, the second focal points meeting of two days will be also organized in Year 5. The balance of the budget of the previous phase of the project will be used to support travel cost for participants’ invitations in the second focal points meeting sponsored by the project.

   4. Evaluation mission by FAO headquarters and the donor country to Bangkok (Year 6: 3 weeks).

5. Training

   Direct costs for organization of regional meetings(Year 4, Year 6).

6. Expendable Procurement

   Expendable equipment and supplies required in support of project activities such as computer supplies, stationery, etc. for the project office.

7. Technical Support Services

   1. Technical Backstopping
      FAO will provide technical backstopping and oversight of the project, averaging one month of professional staff services each year.

   2. Terminal Report
      After the completion of the project, FAO will submit a Terminal Report to the Donor Government.

   3. Evaluation
      Evaluation will be undertaken during the focal points meeting in Year 6. The evaluation team will consist of an official of FAO headquarters and a representative of the donor country. (3 weeks, an official of FAO headquarters and a representative of the donor country).

9. General operating expenses

   General operating expenses including cost sharing of the project office and cost of telecommunication maintenance, production of field documents and miscellaneous activities for smooth project implementation.

3.3. FAO Contributions

Project Headquarters will be located at the premises of the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP), Bangkok. FAO RAP will make available office space for the project expert and will recruit and service the staff assigned to implement the project. It will also make available conference facilities and a vehicle for local transport in Bangkok, Thailand for regional meetings, seminars and workshops, organized under the project.

4. Project Evaluation

FAO and the Donor Government will jointly examine the progress of the project. The project will be subject to an evaluation in accordance with the policies and procedures established by FAO.

At the time of the focal points meeting in the last year of the project, an official terminal evaluation will be planned, by a small team consisting of an official from FAO headquarters and a representative of the donor country, hired using project funds. The Terms of Reference and exact timing will be decided in consultation between FAO and the Donor Government.