UNUnited Nations Economic Commission for Europe

Press Release

[Index]      

 STATISTICS FOR A BETTER AGRICULTURE

Geneva, 5 June 2001
 

How do we measure the quality of the food? How much does agriculture affect our environment? What role does agriculture play in rural development? How will new technology affect agriculture and competitiveness between North and South? What is the role of women in agriculture? Is the family farm endangered with extinction?

In the wake of the current crisis in international agriculture, these are some of the many questions which will be addressed by the 2nd World Conference on Agriculture Statistics in Rome from 5 to 7 June 2001. The title of the Conference is CAESAR: Conference on Agricultural and Environmental Statistical Applications in Rome.

The Conference is hosted by the Italian National Statistical Institute (ISTAT). All the major international organizations are taking part: the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat), the International Statistical Institute (ISI) and the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) of the United States Department of Agriculture.

Few sectors have undergone such dramatic structural changes as agriculture during the last century. Enormous productivity increases driven by technological developments both in the areas of machinery and biotechnology, led to plummeting employment. Seventy years ago 30% of the US population lived on 6.5 million farms. Now about 3% live on 2 million farms. Agriculture is dominated by a few thousand huge farms, which account for some 80% of output. Similar trends exist in other industrialized countries.

Increased output is of course good but there are serious externalities. First, more and more farmers have difficulties in earning their living on farming alone which threatens rural development which all countries try to promote. Agriculture will always be a corner stone in all policies for rural development.

Second, technological-driven large-scale farming had impacts on the environmental balance.

A third and a very important issue is related to food security. Here there are two aspects: do we have enough food at the right time at the right place? and is the food we are eating safe?

Food security in the first aspect focuses very much on trade policies when it concerns developed countries while for developing countries, taking North Korea as an example, it is a matter of securing supply of food for the people.

The second aspect of food safety has recently got increased attention. The current crisis calls for much closer scrutiny and monitoring of the input to agriculture as well as its production processes. This in turn will create enormous new challenges of agriculture statistics. CAESAR, which gathers all important international organizations in agriculture statistics as well as the world's most important national statistical offices, is the starting point for this challenge.

Politicians and the public are increasingly requesting more accurate, detailed and timely statistics not only on output but also on the quality of output based on the improved monitoring of inputs and the production processes.

These aspects will be addressed already in the opening plenary session by Mr. Luigi Biggeri, President of ISTAT; Mr. Corrado Pirzio Biroli, Head of Cabinet for the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries; Mr. Keith Collins, Chief Economist, United States Department of Agriculture; Mr. Hartwig de Haen, Assistant Director-General of FAO; and by a representative of the Italian Ministry of Agriculture.

 

For further information please consult the CAESAR website:

http://www.istat.it/caesar

or contact the Organizing Committee:

Federica Piersimoni and Laura Machetti
ISTAT/DISE/AGR
Via A. RavĂ , 150
I – 00142 Rome

Tel: (+39 06) 5952 4256 / 45 34
Fax: (+39 06) 5410 528
E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]

 

 

Ref:  ECE/STAT/01/03