Component 4: Develop Awareness and Build the Skills for Data Analysis and Dissemination
The ultimate goal of national statistical programmes is to provide society with high-quality and timely data to enable policy analysis and monitoring, accountability reporting, evidence-based decision-making and research. Improving the skills of the national counterparts in data processing and management is a fundamental prerequisite for the success and sustainability of any activity aiming at strengthening statistical systems and specifically for the implementation of the 50x2030 Initiative.
The Global Strategy provides countries with technical assistance to ensure that the statistics produced meet the growing demand from the user side and are used successfully as an information base to produce investment planning, policymaking, monitoring and research.
Activities are designed and implemented to ensure that countries have the pivotal technical capacity to process, analyze and disseminate according to the best standards. These include:
Package- TOOLS
Implementing agency: FAO
Despite the vital role played by data processing and management software in statistics, the staff of many National Statistical Agencies still lack the basic software skills needed and often do not meet the minimal requirements in terms of statistical literacy needed. Empowering partner countries to use modern statistical software will be beneficial not only to agricultural statistics but also to the implementation of the NSS as a whole.
Objectives:
The main objectives of this package will be to provide countries with the basic/Intermediate technical knowledge of statistical software required to:
Produce basic descriptive statistics and graphic representations (e.g. maps, charts, etc.) using agricultural survey data.
Edit, clean, impute and process survey microdata.
Analyze and aggregate survey microdata.
Activities and Results:
Hands-on tools for data processing and analysis:
- Technical training - Introduction to descriptive statistics with the aid of statistical software (SPSS, STAT, or R);
- Technical training - Data editing, cleaning and imputation with the aid of statistical software;
- Technical training - Estimation and analysis using survey microdata with the aid of statistical software.
This package has been adopted by Angola, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Lesotho, Madagascar, Tanzania, Togo Niger, Mali, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and DRC.
Package – Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI)
Implementing agency: FAO
CAPI is a set of approaches to data collection based on technologies using mobile devices that have proven to reduce data collection costs over time while improving the quality and timeliness of statistical products. One of the main barriers to the adoption of CAPI is the specific skills required to develop and manage electronic surveys. During the first phase of the Global Strategy, training material (including an e-learning module) was developed on the use of Survey Solutions (SuSo), a free-access CAPI solution developed by the World Bank, and many countries supported it. Given the demand from countries, the second phase of the Global Strategy will pursue this support and expand to other CAPI solutions, such as the Census and Survey Processing System (CSPro), a free and widely used software used for data collection development by the US Census Bureau.
Objectives:
Train and support countries in developing, implementing and maintaining CAPI-based surveys to improve data quality and cost-efficiency of their agricultural surveys.
Activities and Results:
Two sets of training material will be developed or updated, one for SuSo and one for CSPro;
Regional trainings will be conducted for the interested countries based on the material developed;
- Targeted practical support will be provided to the countries in the framework of the data collection activities foreseen under packages AGPROD, FARMECO and LOSSES).
This package has been implemented in all 25 African countries through regional trainings.
Package-DISSEMINATION
Implementing agency: FAO
Dissemination of official statistics, including well-documented microdata, is one key mandate of the agencies of the National Statistical System (NSS) as underlined by the first principle of the UN Fundamental Principle of Official Statistics. Data produced within the NSS should be considered a public good and be made accessible to the users to enable research, policy analysis and monitoring, and evidence-based decision-making. Increasing access to data and statistics through well-planned dissemination programs provides multiple advantages to NSOs.
This technical assistance module will prepare the ground for the setting up and implementation of an effective dissemination program by the agency in charge of agricultural statistics in the context of the 50x2030 Initiative.
Objectives:
- Develop awareness on the importance of designing and adopting statistical dissemination policies for national statistical offices (NSO).
- Build the essential knowledge and technical skills on the many aspects associated with the setting up and the implementation of comprehensive data dissemination and preservation programs.
Activities and Results:
Hands-on tools for data dissemination:
- Releasing statistical tables and main agricultural indicators.
- Setting up a microdata dissemination program
- Data dissemination and preservation policies and strategies.
This package has been adopted by Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Lesotho, Mozambique, Tanzania, Benin, DRC, Egypt, and Ghana.
Package-INDICATORS
Implementing agency: FAO
The lack of indicators in agriculture using internationally agreed methodologies is a widespread issue, and at the same time, it is a critical pre-condition for supporting processes of evidence-based decision-making and investments needed to promote agricultural development. Developing countries need support not only for collecting good quality statistical data but also for producing the indicators required for their national development policies and by international frameworks, such as SDG indicators and CAADP for Africa.
Objectives:
- Provide TA assistance to countries in computing timely and reliable national, SDG’s and CAADP indicators.
- Propose TA on developing farm typologies for countries with more developed capacities.
Activities and Results:
Hands-on tools for identifying gaps and computing relevant indicators: o Desk work and consultations with national counterparts;
- Gap Analysis.
- Elaboration of a work plan.
- Technical training.
- Restitution workshop.
Hands-on tools for developing farm typologies (FT):
- Desk work and consultations with national counterparts
- Elaboration of a work plan.
- Technical training.
- Restitution workshop.
This package has been adopted by Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Togo, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe.
Package- Food Balance Sheet (FBS)
Implementing agency: FAO
A Food Balance Sheet (FBS) is an aggregated and analytical data set that presents a comprehensive picture of the pattern of a country’s food supply and utilization during a specified reference period. FBS are built on the premise that within a given country in a given year, the sum of all aspects of the supply of a given food product must be equal to the sum of utilizations of that product. FBS provides estimates for every item of per capita food available for human consumption in terms of quantity, calories (DES), protein, and fat.
Objectives:
- Compile their national FBS using the methodology developed during the 1st phase of GSARS.
- Produce useful indicators for data-oriented food policies (DES, import dependence rate, calculation of the prevalence of undernourishment (PoU, etc.) at a national level.
Activities and results:
Countries have the capacity to compile FBS for at least one reference year:
- Inception mission and gap analysis.
- Technical training on FBS.
- FBS compilation
- Restitution workshop.
This package has been adopted by Comoros, Mali, Nigeria, Sudan, and Zimbabwe.