LAND USE / LAND COVER

Land is defined as a physical entity which includes natural resources: the soils, minerals, agriculture and forests. These components are essential to maintaining the productive capacity of an economically sustainable environment. Many problems which are now being recognised in natural and agricultural land systems have arisen because of inadequate technologies for assessing and monitoring land resources, preventing land pollution and rehabilitating contaminated lands

It should be borne in mind that definitions used by reporting countries vary considerably and items classified under the same category often relate to greatly differing kinds of land. Definitions of land use (land cover) categories are as follows:

Total Area: The total area of the country, including area under inland water bodies. Data in this category are obtained mainly from the United Nations Statistical Division, New York. Possible variations in the data may be due to updating and revisions of the country data and not necessarily to any change of area.

Land Area: Total area excludes area under inland water bodies. The definition of inland water bodies generally includes major rivers and lakes. Data in this category are obtained mainly from the United Nations Statistical Division, New York. Possible variations in the data may be due to updating and revisions of the country data and not necessarily to any change of area.

Agricultural land: The sum of area under ”Arable land”, ”Permanent crops” and ”Permanent pastures”.

Arable Land: Land under temporary crops (double-cropped areas are counted only once), temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow (less than five years). The abandoned land resulting from shifting cultivation is not included in this category. Data for arable land are not meant to indicate the amount of land that is potentially cultivable.

Permanent Crops: Land cultivated with crops that occupy the land for long periods and need not be replanted after each harvest, such as cocoa, coffee and rubber; this category includes land under flowering shrubs, fruit trees, nut trees and vines, but excludes land under trees grown for wood or timber.

Permanent Pasture: Land used permanently (five years or more) for herbaceous forage crops, either cultivated or growing wild (wild prairie or grazing land). The dividing line between this category and the category "Forests and woodland"; is rather indefinite, especially in the case of shrubs, savannah, etc., which may have been reported under either of these two categories.

Forests and Woodland: Land under natural or planted stands of trees, whether productive or not. This category includes land from which forests have been cleared but that will be reforested in the foreseeable future, but it excludes woodland or forest used only for recreation purposes. The question of shrub land, savannah, etc. raises the same problem as in the category "Permanent meadows and pastures". In the year 1995 and onward there will be no data for this category. Data relating to forest area can be obtained from the FAO Forest Resources Division.

Non arable and permanent crops: From 1995 this element includes any other land not specifically listed under arable land and land under permanent crops, permanent pastures, forests and woodland, built on areas, roads, barren lands, etc.

Irrigated Area: Data on irrigation relate to areas equipped to provide water to the crops. These include areas equipped for full and partial control irrigation, spate irrigation areas, and equipped wetland or inland valley bottoms.

TRACTORS

Tractors: Data generally refer to total wheel and crawler tractors (excluding garden tractors) used in agriculture.

PESTICIDES

Pesticides Consumption: Data refer to the quantity of pesticides used in or sold to the agricultural sector expressed in metric tons of active ingredients

FERTILIZER

Fertilizers Consumption: Quantity of fertilizer consumed in agriculture expressed in metric tons of plant nutrient.

POPULATION

Population: The total population series have been obtained from the UN Population Division, which prepares estimates and projections of the total population by sex and age for each fifth year from 1950 to 2050. These series are biennially revised and the present ones refer to the 2000 revision ("World Population Prospects: The 2000 Revision", United Nations, New York, 2001). As part of this biennial exercise the UN also derives annual estimates by interpolation. The urban/rural population, the economically active population and the agricultural/non-agricultural population segments were obtained by systematically applying to the total population the series of relevant ratios (i.e. proportion of urban population, proportion of economically active population by sex and age, etc). The total population usually refers to the present-in-area (de facto) population which includes all persons physically present within the present geographical boundaries of countries at the mid-point of the reference period.

Total economically active population: This refers to the number of all employed and unemployed persons (including those seeking work for the first time). It covers employers; self-employed workers; salaried employees; wage earners; unpaid workers assisting in a family, farm or business operation; members of producers' cooperatives; and members of the armed forces. The economically active population is also called the labour force.

Total Economically Active Population in agriculture: The economically active population in agriculture is that part of the economically active population engaged in or seeking work in agriculture, hunting, fishing or forestry.

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT

Gross Domestic Product (current US$): Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources. Data are in current U.S. dollars. Dollar figures for GDP are converted from domestic currencies using single year official exchange rates. For a few countries where the official exchange rate does not reflect the rate effectively applied to actual foreign exchange transactions, an alternative conversion factor is used.

Agriculture, value added (current US$): Agriculture corresponds to ISIC divisions 1-5 and includes forestry, hunting, and fishing, as well as cultivation of crops and livestock production. Value added is the net output of a sector after adding up all outputs and subtracting intermediate inputs. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or depletion and degradation of natural resources. The origin of value added is determined by the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC), revision 3. Data are in current U.S. dollars.

LIVE ANIMALS

Data refers to the number of animals of the species present in the country at the time of enumeration in terms of livestock unit (LU). It includes animals raised either for draft purposes or for meat and dairy production or kept for breeding. Live animals in captivity for fur or skin such as foxes, minks, etc., are not included. The enumeration chosen, when more than one survey is taken, is the closest to the beginning of the calendar year.

Live animals data is reported in livestock unit (LU) for comparison of different species across geographical regions. The livestock unit is a standardized animal units obtained by multiplying total number of animals with a conversion factors that takes into account "feed requirements" for the animal. The following conversion factors have been used for compiling the livestock unit for each country/region.

VALUE OF AGRICUTURAL PRODUCTION IN INTERNATIONAL DOLLAR

Value of Agricultural production (Net production at 1989-91 International dollar prices): The value of agricultural production has been derived by multiplying net production (i.e. gross production after deductions of quantities used as seed and feed) with international commodity average (average of 1989, 1990 and 1991) prices. These ”international prices”, expressed in so-called ”international dollars”, are derived using a Geary-Khamis formula for the agricultural sector. This method assigns a single ”price” to each commodity. For example, one metric ton of wheat has the same price regardless of the country where it was produced.

AGRICULTURAL INVESTMENT

Capital Stock in Agriculture and Investment in Agriculture: The estimates of Investment in Agriculture have indirectly been derived by the FAO Statistics Division using physical data on livestock, tractors, irrigated land and land under permanent crops, etc. and the average prices for the year 1995. These data enabled the derivation of the Capital Stock in Agriculture and the annual change in the latter is taken to reflect Investment in Agriculture.

EXTERNAL ASSISTANCE TO AGRICULTURE

External Assistance to Agriculture (EAA): The External Assistance to Agriculture (EAA) is the commitments made by bilateral and multilateral donors to the developing countries and countries in transition for the development of agriculture. The EAA consists of data on commitments from Development Assistance Committee (DAC located in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries), the World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and International Development Association),, Asian and African Regional Development Banks, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), FAO, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The commitments made in the form of grants, grant-like and loans are only included. The data does not cover some of the donors like European Economic Community (EEC), Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) and some of the regional banks due to availability of data. The assistance also does not cover food aid and other technical cooperation provided in kind. The term ”Agriculture” is used in broad sense to cover agriculture, forestry, fisheries, land & water, agro-industries, environment, manufacturing of agricultural inputs & machineries, regional & river development and rural development.

PRESSURE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FOOD PRODUCTION

Net Export of Agricultural and Food Products (Export Value less Import Value at Base Period Price): import value and export value are compiled multiplying the current quantity with the base period unit value (the 3-year weighted mean unit value of the period 1989-1991). This covers trade for agricultural products and food products. Food products include commodities that are considered edible and contain nutrients, except for animal feed products and alcoholic beverages. Coffee and tea are also excluded because, although edible, they have practically no nutritive value. Value represents the current values of export (f.o.b.) and of import (c.i.f.), all expressed in US dollars. If any country reports import values on f.o.b. basis, these are adjusted to approximate c.i.f. values.

Import and Export values at base year prices are not available (calculated) for Czechoslovak, Czech Rep and Slovakia; Yugoslavia SFR, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro and Slovenia; USSR, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova Rep, Russian Fed, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Ethiopia PDR, Eritrea, Ethiopia. As a consequence, for these sets of indicators totals for World, Developed, Transition Markets and Developing countries exclude above mentioned countries