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Transcript of Policy Issues Facing the Food, Agriculture and Rural Sectors and Implications for Agricultural...
Policy Issues Facing the Food, Agriculture and Rural Sectors
and Implications for Agricultural Statistics
Mary Bohman and Mary Ahearn
Economic Research ServiceU.S. Department of Agriculture
ISI Satellite Meeting on Agricultural Statistics
Maputo, Mozambique
August 13-14, 2009
Overview
• Issues driving demand for agricultural statistics
• Questions lie at the intersection of agriculture, resources, and people
• Examples– Measuring well-being and off-farm income– Policy outcomes and gender– Resources and environment and links to land
• Conclusions
Food, agriculture, & rural issues high on agenda
• Global food crisis
• Climate change and climate policy
• Bioenergy production
• Water quantity and water quality
• Millennium Development Goals
Farm and rural prosperity key to MDGs
• Poverty concentrated in rural areas
• Agriculture serves as a major source of employment
• Agriculture is dominant user of natural resources: land and water
Global consensus on importance of agriculture
• Investment by countries and international organizations had fallen– Concern about benefits given shrinking role in
economy with growth
• Broad consensus that prosperity in agriculture supports overall growth – Research finds that investment in rural and agriculture
lead to higher rates of overall economic growth
Maputo Declaration in 2003
• Maputo Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security in Africa
• Includes “commitment to the allocation of at least 10 percent of national budgetary resources to agriculture and rural development policy implementation within five years”
• In 2009, African Union meeting of experts emphasized importance of productivity and resilience in agricultural systems
Agricultural statistics key to making smart investments and
tracking progress• What should be the mix of investments in
agriculture and other rural activities?• What types of investments best capitalize on
differences by gender in outcomes?• How do subsidies for fertilizer affect markets
and the environment?• What are the consequences of investments
in alternative energy, including biofuels?• How do future changes in climate affect the
optimal choice of research investments?
Understanding decision-making and behavioral adjustments
• Economic models provide guidance– Development economists have made important
contributions which recognize the close links (nonseparability) of production and household consumption choices
– Micro-level data are required for analysis with these models
• Micro-level data strengthens aggregate statistics– Availability of micro-data changed picture of
farm vs national incomes
Questions lie at the intersection of agriculture, resources, and people
NONFARM HOUSEHOLDS
Land
Rural communities
Water
CropsLivestock
Climate
Energy
FARM HOUSEHOLDS
FARM BUSINESSES
LaborBiodiversity
Many farm households rely on off-farm income and strong rural
economies• The share of farm
operators engaged in off-farm work varies across countries
Total income and off-farm income vary within countries
• US farm household income levels and sources vary with farm size
• Poverty linked to human capital, assets, and off-farm job availability
Role of Gender• Research has shown that in many
countries consideration of gender is critical
• Giving women more power can lead to beneficial outcomes:– Increasing yields
– Improved investments in health and nutrition
– Enhanced ability to manage income shocks
• Agricultural statistics need to consider how to best acquire and analyze data that supports analysis of women’s roles
Importance of agricultural employment varies across countries, as does the role of
women
Agriculture part of global land use
• Farmer and rancher decisions about land use key to GHG emissions
• Potential for participation in mitigation represents a complex decision
• Link land to farm to HH?
Panel data: “the holy grail”
• Decisions about investments and savings critical to productivity growth
• Inform questions policies to address adverse weather and other shocks
Conclusions• Role of agricultural statistics to support policy
decisions requires understanding how:– resources, production, returns, and household income
are distributed among the population– farm and rural households make choices and respond
to change
• Importance of working with data users