Statistical Capacity Development
One of the key missions of FAO is to support member countries develop the capacity of their statistical systems and enable them to collect, analyze, disseminate and use relevant, reliable and timely data. By strengthening countries’ capacity in this area, FAO contributes to make available key analytical and decision-making support tools for national, regional and global evidence-based actions.
How can national governments request capacity development assistance?
National governments should discuss on an ongoing basis their statistical capacity development needs and priorities directly with their FAO country office. These needs and priorities will usually be reflected in the Country programming framework (CPF) and support will be planned in consultation with the relevant technical units and regional or sub-regional statisticians. If assistance requests are raised, the FAO country office will contact the relevant technical divisions and regional or sub-regional statisticians to analyze how the support can be provided.
FAO statistical capacity development activities are funded through:
- Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP)
- Regular programme funds allocated to technical divisions
- Extra-budgetary programmes that support statistical development.
For specific information and inquiries on FAO capacity development programmes, national governments are also encouraged to contact these programmes directly.
Statistical capacity development programmes
Food security and nutrition indicators (Voices of the Hungry)
FAO empowers countries to collect, analyse, interpret and use food security, nutrient and healthy diet indicators, producing evidence to guide policies and interventions to end hunger and malnutrition. Specifically, with financial support from the European Union, FAO's Statistics Division supports countries in:
- Monitoring progress on the eradication of hunger in the world through the SDG indicator 2.1.1 Prevalence of Undernourishment (PoU);
- Monitoring access to food with the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) to inform SDG indicator 2.1.2 Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity based on the FIES, as well as classification systems like the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) and the Cadre Harmonisée (CH);
- Producing harmonized dietary related statistics based on information on apparent food and nutrient intake; and
- Producing indicators on the cost and affordability of a healthy diet, assessing disparities across geographical regions.
Given the importance of these indicators for the achievement of SDG 2, FAO's Statistics Division provides support to countries in the following areas:
- Identification of data gaps;
- Design/adaptation and test of food consumption and FIES survey modules;
- Food consumption and FIES data collection;
- Food consumption and FIES data analysis; and
- Food consumption and FIES data dissemination and reporting.
Related capacity development resources
- Voices of the Hungry (VoH) project
- Resources on food security and nutrition statistics
- E-learning course on the "Prevalence of Undernourishment (PoU)" (available in Arabic, English, French, Russian and Spanish)
- E-learning course on "Using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES)" (available in Arabic, English, French, Russian and Spanish)
- Food and Agriculture Microdata Catalogue (FIES collection)