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* Atleast Project Title is Required.
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Project No. |
ATC 03 2011A
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Project Title |
Workshop to Assess and Improve Agricultural Data Collection and Dissemination by APEC Member Economies
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Project Status |
Completed Project
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Publication (if any) |
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Fund Account |
APEC Support Fund
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Sub-fund |
ASF: General Fund
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Project Year |
2011
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Project Session |
Session 2
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APEC Funding |
51,413
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Co-funding Amount |
88,197
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Total Project Value |
139,610
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Sponsoring Forum |
Agricultural Technical Cooperation Working Group (ATCWG)
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Topics |
Agriculture
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Committee |
SOM Steering Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation (SCE)
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Other Fora Involved |
Not Applicable / Other
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Other Non-APEC Stakeholders Involved |
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Proposing Economy(ies) |
United States
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Co-Sponsoring Economies |
Australia; Japan
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Expected Start Date |
20/06/2011
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Expected Completion Date |
31/12/2012
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Project Proponent Name 1 |
Kathryn McCormick
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Job Title 1 |
International Trade Specialist
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Organization 1 |
United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service
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Postal Address 1 |
1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250, USA
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Telephone 1 |
(202) 720-9207
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Fax 1 |
(202)690-1093
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Email 1 |
kathryn.mccormick@fas.usda.gov
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Project Proponent Name 2 |
Not Applicable
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Job Title 2 |
Not Applicable
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Organization 2 |
Not Applicable
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Postal Address 2 |
Not Applicable
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Telephone 2 |
Not Applicable
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Fax 2 |
Not Applicable
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Email 2 |
Not Applicable
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Declaration |
Not Applicable
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Project Summary |
This 2-day workshop will promote a discussion of best practices in agricultural data collection with the aim of generating more reliable and higher-quality data among APEC economies, particularly developing economies, and supporting better informed decision-making in trade and food security. Through this workshop APEC participants will understand the role of strong data collection tools, and discuss the challenges faced by economies in collecting such data.
The proposed workshop location will be in Manila, Philippines in October 2011. APEC economies, with a specific focus on developing economies, will share their experiences and expert speakers from the United States Department of Agriculture, FAO, and other international and governmental organizations will be invited to speak on current agricultural data collection tools.
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Relevance |
The quality of agricultural data among APEC member economies, particularly among developing members, is highly variable. Creating a national capacity to effectively collect and utilize agricultural data is critical to sustainable improvements of developing members’ ability to monitor and evaluate their food security situation. This project addresses the broad spectrum of members’ needs for capacity building in collecting and using agricultural statistics. Reliable and accessible agricultural data among APEC economies is necessary to (1) enhance connectivity and promote trade and investment; (2) promote the development and utilization of new technology and services to improve business and investment environment in the agricultural sector; (3) support regional food security initiatives by providing an objective and replicable economic picture for decision-making; and (4) and demonstrate economic and technical cooperation.
Improved transparency and integration of data collection methodologies within the region will support regional investment, trade and food security initiatives. It is critical that representatives of member economies gain a better understanding of the relationship between the availability of good data and a strong trade financing infrastructure and environment. The project is expected to lay the groundwork for an improved understanding of national data collection systems and enhance connectivity among APEC economies, and demonstrate their capacities for economic and technical cooperation. Further, the project will encourage analysis of how individual data collection systems can achieve common goals to improve the agribusiness climate and long-term food security.
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Objectives |
(1) Enhance understanding of member economies’ data collection processes and the challenges they face. The workshop will enable participants to share practices from APEC economies and increase familiarity with the scope and capabilities of national data gathering systems.
(2) Exchange information on best practices for achieving transparent and high quality agricultural data. Identification of best practices will encourage an integrated, transparent approach among member economies’ development of national statistical systems, and sharing of data collection tools and systems.
(3) Identify linkages between the use of agricultural statistics, and trade and food security initiatives. Participants will identify how reliable, accurate and timely agricultural data effectively support trade, investment, and food security policy making.
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Alignment |
The 2010 APEC Ministerial Meeting on Food Security in Japan underscored that APEC is well positioned to help expand the availability of food through a focus on raising agricultural productivity, facilitating trade and investment and expanding markets. The objectives of the proposed workshop directly align with the shared goals of Sustainable Development of the Agricultural Sector and Facilitation of Investment, Trade and Markets in the Niigata Declaration; a stronger agricultural data collection system that is accessible to APEC member economies, regardless of the level of economic development, will strengthen confidence in agricultural markets and improve the regional agribusiness environment. APEC developing economies have requested assistance from APEC to support discussions regarding tools that will prevent or lessen the impact of volatile food price shocks and reduce uncertainty in their markets. Based on these priority objectives, the proposed workshop aims to:
· share practices from APEC economies and increase familiarity with the scope
and capabilities of national data gathering systems;
· identify best practices in data collection to build a foundation for the ongoing
improvement of data collection methodologies and transparency among
member economies; and
· strengthen the capacity of decision makers to recognize and advocate the
use of high quality data to support trade and investment, and food security
goals.
This project also directly supports the development of the APEC Information Sharing Platform proposed by Japan by helping to improve the quality of agricultural data. Finally, the proposed workshop is included in the ATCWG 2011 work-plan, and supports Goal Four of the 2010-2015 Medium Term Work-Plan of the ATCWG to improve agricultural information systems and analysis.
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TILF/ASF Justification |
In this workshop senior statistics and agricultural trade officials from APEC developing economies will have a platform for presenting their particular challenges and needs with respect to agricultural data collection. They will also have the opportunity to identify how the best practices of other economies may be adapted to their economies’ capacities and needs, and learn how systematic improvements in data collection and transparency can boost their business climate. APEC developing economies may draw from the expertise and resources of other members and international organizations, such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to achieve a higher standard of transparency and integration of data collection systems, effectively building their capacities to attract investment and promote regional economic growth.
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Beneficiaries and Outputs |
The direct project beneficiaries will be senior statistics government officials and high level policymakers in the field of agricultural statistics and trade from APEC member economies who will enhance their knowledge of best practices in agricultural data collection, and can exercise their leadership to improve their data collection systems. The workshop will facilitate dialogue among regional experts and can help to identify areas of cooperation.
More reliable information can enhance business environments and market reliability. Public and private sector enterprises that utilize agricultural statistics as a basis for decision making on agency priorities and new enterprises will also directly benefit from improvement data collection by APEC economies. Exercising best practices in data collection can spur private investment and improve agricultural trade.
Although food security is a common concern for all APEC economies, citizens of developing APEC economies will particularly benefit from increased transparency that can support increased investment by the private sector and expanded markets.
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Dissemination |
The outcomes and final report will be available on the APEC Publications Database and other interested websites that may be identified, such as the forthcoming APEC Information Sharing Platform proposed by Japan, and as allowed by the APEC Secretariat. In addition, digital copies of speakers’ presentations and contact information will be provided at the workshop. The target audience will be policymakers in APEC economies, who recognize the long term impact of better data collection and can lead efforts toward institutional change and implement of best practices. Further, the materials could be used by government leaders outside of the statistics field who are interested in improving their business and investment climate.
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Gender |
Women are actively engaged in every step of this project’s planning, development, and implementation and will continue to be engaged through the evaluation phase at all levels. Both men and women will participate in the workshop and women will be invited to fill speaking roles. Women from developing economies will be targeted as workshop participants and presenters. For travel eligible economies where travel and per diem are covered by APEC, developing economies will be encouraged to consider qualified female participants. Our target is to have 30 percent female attendees at the workshop.
Women in APEC economies are particularly vulnerable to food security risks as a result of food price spikes and exposure to natural disasters. This project’s objectives to positively impact trade and investment can improve regional and global food security and directly benefit women.
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Work Plan |
Timeline
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Step
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Output
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Date
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Step 1
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Proposal reviewed and approved
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June 2011
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Step 2
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Develop detailed agenda for workshop
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June 2011
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Step 3
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Hold consultations with relevant fora
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June-August 2011
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Step 4
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Identify and invite speakers and participants for the workshop
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July 2011
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Step 5
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Secure commitments from speakers and participants
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July 201
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Step 6
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Secure workshop location and arrange logistics
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July 2011
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Step 7
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Confirm participant and speaker travel plans
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August-September 2011
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Step 8
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Finalize agenda
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August 2011
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Step 9
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Hold workshop
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October 2011
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Step 10
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Compile and distribute workshop outcomes and post information on relevant websites
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October 2011
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Step 11
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Submit evaluation of the workshop and final report
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November 2011
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This workshop will be held in October 2011. Once the workshop is approved, a detailed agenda will be developed in consultation with member economies, international organizations, and other stakeholders. Speakers and participants will be identified based on recommendations from member economies. The workshop location will be in Manila, Philippines, which will minimize the cost and travel time for many participants and increase the number of qualified individuals that can participate. Shortly after the workshop is held, outcomes will be compiled and distributed electronically, so that participants may quickly put this information into practice. The evaluation of the workshop and final report will be submitted no later than two months after the workshop.
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Risks |
Given that information sharing is one of the key objectives of the project the potential risks in its implementation include a failure to secure qualified speakers and targeted participants for the event. To minimize this risk, project proponents will work to ensured that the workshop dates are confirmed early on in the process, and that there are no major conflicts with other events. Identifying and confirming the availability of appropriate experts and speakers to participate in the workshop will also be managed well in advance, and consultations with these experts could even positively shape the agenda. Once the project proposal is accepted, project proponents will begin immediate outreach to the spectrum of APEC economies and other stakeholders and identify potential speakers and participants. Early outreach to experts in the field of agricultural statistics, as well as trade and policy officials and other relevant stakeholders that utilize agricultural data in the decision making process, will secure appropriate participation and minimize this risk.
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Monitoring and Evaluation |
The objectives above will serve as the primary basis for evaluating the success of this project. Project proponents are committed to integrating a monitoring and evaluation component throughout the project cycle. Using a results oriented framework project proponents will develop and administer pre and post-workshop surveys to gather qualitative data from participants including senior statistics government officials and high level policy makers in the agricultural statistics field. Project proponents will employ a user-friendly survey development tool, such as Survey Monkey, that is easily accessible on-line and designed to capture both qualitative and quantitative data.
A pre-workshop survey of all participants will assess targets for the workshop’s output, the actual output post-event, as well as project outcomes in the mid-term. Specifically, the pre-workshop survey will gauge:
· How the participant utilizes (or would like to utilize) agricultural statistics in
his/her current work
· The capabilities and challenges of developing economies in agricultural
statistics gathering
· Current knowledge of best practices in the field of agricultural statistics
· Knowledge of how better agricultural statistics are tied to economic growth
through increased trade and greater food security
The answers to these questions should reflect APEC’s diverse economies, and the qualitative data generated prior to the workshop will establish participants’ baseline (1) understanding of developing economies’ challenges, (2) knowledge of best practices in the agricultural data collection, and (3) understanding of their relevance to economic growth and food security. A post-workshop survey –to be built into the agenda and administered towards the end of the workshop- will assess the workshop’s output and examine qualitative changes to the baseline, including whether participants received new information, relevant materials, and established new contacts in agricultural statistics field. Finally, a second post-workshop survey will be administered to participants two months after the workshop to assess, how they are using the information and material from the workshop, the extent of continued information exchange between participants, their ongoing cooperation and collaboration, and to identify future efforts that could further support the project’s objectives.
The survey results will be shared with the APEC Agricultural Technical Cooperation Working Group as well as relevant or cooperating international organizations, such as FAO, World Bank and ADB.
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Linkages |
Through its participation in other international fora, the United States is well positioned to lead the effort in APEC to bring together stakeholders regarding agricultural data gathering training programs internationally. APEC provides a useful forum to engage developing economies on their data collections needs and promote information sharing among all economies.
This project will draw from previous work in data collection methodologies, such as FAO’s Asia and Pacific Commission on Agricultural Statistics (APCAS), which assesses the current status of food and agricultural statistical development in member economies, inform members of FAO activities in this area, and discuss new developments in agricultural statistics. The ADB/FAO held a workshop on agricultural statistics and agricultural census in Thailand in 2009, which focused on statistical capacity building in the Asia and Pacific Region, and ADB launched a regional project Strengthening Regional Data Exchange System (RDES) on Food and Agricultural Statistics in Asia and Pacific economies in 2001. The proposed workshop will support a joint World Bank and FAO Global Strategy to Improve Agricultural and Rural Statistics (Global Strategy) that was initiated in 2011. At the outset project proponents will consult with FAO and World Bank, and other key implementing agencies of the Global Strategy- the African Development Bank, the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat), the Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century, and the United Nations Statistics Division- on their efforts to date and assess how previous work can shape the workshop agenda. Input from these international organizations will guide the project to complement the work already done in the field of agricultural statistics, as well as help to identify gaps. Moreover, project proponents will take into account developments within the G20, including plans to develop an Agricultural Market Information System (AIMS), and will strive to develop a workshop that aligns with that effort.
While these previous projects recognize the importance of strengthening developing economies’ agricultural data collection systems, this project will focus on providing practical training on best practices in collection, analysis and dissemination of agricultural statistics for the purpose of making decisions related to reducing market uncertainty and the impact of volatile food price shocks on APEC developing economies. Further, the workshop will enhance participants’ understanding of weaknesses in data collection systems and help them identify specific opportunities for cooperation within a regional context.
The proposed workshop may also spur future cooperation between APEC and ADB on the development of good practices in data collection that can be adopted by all APEC economies to promote trade, investment and food security in the long term. This project also directly supports the development of the APEC Information Sharing Platform proposed by Japan by helping to improve the quality of agricultural data.
APEC is a premier forum for facilitating economic growth, cooperation and trade and investment, and it has an important role in improving global food security. APEC’s new vision for growth recognizes the importance of trade and expanding markets in achieving food security, and as a funding source APEC will address the needs of its developing member economies. Better agricultural statistics will improve the business environment in the Asia-Pacific region by providing an objective and reliable picture of the state of each economy, enable comparisons to be made, and set benchmarks for measuring progress. More transparent business environments can in turn lead to balanced growth and greater potential economic output of member economies.
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Sustainability |
The United States, Japan, Australia and other APEC economies are interested in the long term impact of improved agricultural data collection. As institutional and systematic changes occur over the long term this workshop could be the first in a series of efforts among APEC economies to encourage institutional capacity building in the field of agricultural statistics. During the workshop speakers and participants particularly from developing economies will identify constraints to achieving high quality and transparent data and these will be included in the final report. The second post-workshop survey evaluating how participants use the information and material from the workshop, and continue to exchange information or collaborate with other participants will help to identify future efforts toward convergence of high standard statistical gathering capabilities.
Next steps could examine how the private sector uses agricultural data in developing their business strategies, or the impact of agricultural data on food prices. Future initiatives could also address developing economies’ needs for technical training on statistical sampling and estimate analysis. As efforts such as these achieve measurable results similar workshops and coalition building activities may extend to non-APEC economies.
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Project Overseers |
Kathryn McCormick is an International Trade Specialist in the Office of Country and Regional Affairs, Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Heather Grell is the Deputy Chief of Party of the U.S. funded APEC Technical Assistance and Training Facility, which is designed to support APEC and the APEC Secretariat in furthering regional economic integration, support the Bogor Goals of free and open trade, and help APEC become a more strategically managed regional institution. Ms. Grell has successfully managed and/or implemented several technical assignments, including workshops for Remanufacturing and ARCAM.
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Cost Efficiency |
APEC offers maximum value for money because the forum encompasses a broad range of capabilities and competencies in the area of data collection. APEC’s member economies have shared objectives of economic growth and improving regional and global food security, and the forum is well positioned to accomplish its goals. The availability of high-quality agricultural data particularly among developing member economies will create regional benefits, and expansion of trade and investment in the agriculture sector can help expand the availability of food. The success of the project hinges on information sharing and greater understanding of capabilities, resources and challenges, and APEC economies’ common concerns will motivate cooperation and engagement without large funding commitments. Finally, the project will be held in a developing economy in Asia that will lower the cost of the workshop and ensure that a larger number of participants from developing economies attend.
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Drawdown Timetable |
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Direct Labour |
APEC-funded positions will not be employed for this project
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Waivers |
Some travel eligible economies may request advance payment of airfare and per diem if they are not able to wait for reimbursement. PO will request a waiver to fund government official’s travel expenses (per diem and airfare).
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Are there any supporting document attached? |
No
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Attachments
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