Workshop on Strengthening Food and Agricultural Statistics in the Pacific in Support of Food Security and Poverty Reduction Strategies

Workshop on Strengthening Food and Agricultural Statistics in the Pacific in Support of Food Security and Poverty Reduction Strategies and Programmes

Raffles Gateway Hotel, Nadi, Fiji

10 – 13 November 2003

Background

To support global efforts to reduce poverty and improve food security conditions, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is organizing a Workshop on Strengthening Food and Agricultural Statistics in the Pacific in Support of Food Security and Poverty Reduction Strategies and Programmes. The workshop will be held from 10 to 13 November 2003 at the Raffles Gateway Hotel in Nadi, Fiji

Objective

The workshop will try to focus on ways to measure food security/poverty in the Pacific and to develop a strategy to recognize the need for data, to obtain the required data, to analyze it and to present it to decision makers (advocacy).

Participation

About 30 participants from the following 14 Pacific Island countries are expected to participate in the Workshop: Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu. There will also be invited resource persons and representatives from the FAO Statistics Division in Rome, the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, the Asian Development Bank, Secretariat of the Pacific Community and the World Bank (which is providing financial support for the Workshop).

The workshop will provide a forum for senior planning and statistical personnel in these countries to discuss relevant issues associated with the collection, processing and dissemination of food and agricultural statistics in support of national food security and poverty alleviation concerns.

Selected resource persons will make presentations and lead discussions on problems, issues and developments in food and agricultural statistics systems, and help participants focus on a strategy for further developing their respective national agricultural statistical systems. During the workshop, the representatives of each country will participate in the discussions and contribute to recommendations for strengthening agricultural statistics systems in their country and in the Pacific region, commenting on the issues affecting collection, processing and utilization of food and agricultural statistics. Country participants will be asked to discuss these issues with senior officials before leaving their countries and to prepare a PowerPoint poster presentation listing the food and agricultural statistics surveys in their countries and suggesting a country definition of “poverty” with recommendations about how to measure it with either current of future surveys.

Nomination of Participants

Criteria for Nomination of Participants

Governments are invited to nominate candidates for the workshop. The nominees should be senior persons in the relevant policy/planning or food security unit of the Ministry of Agriculture, National Planning Agency or National Statistical Office, who are involved in the use and analysis of statistics for food security matters or responsible for the collection, compilation, analysis and dissemination of food and agricultural statistics.

The workshop will address substantive issues associated with food security and alleviation of poverty, agricultural policy/planning and the future direction of agricultural statistics. Participants should therefore be persons at a sufficiently senior level to influence the future development of agricultural statistics in the country. The workshop will discuss problems faced by both producers and users of the statistics, and therefore the participants will include persons working in both areas.

Nominees are required to complete a Personal History Form.

Materials Requested from Participants

Participants will be required to prepare and present a PowerPoint presentation as a poster session, according to the outline described in the last paragraph under Participation.

In addition, the participants may be requested to bring with them copies of statistics and publications relevant to the workshop.

Deadline for the Nominations

The deadline for the nominations is 14 October 2003. Governments should ensure that their nominations are submitted to the FAO Sub-Regional for the Pacific for their transmission to the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. Country statements should be submitted as soon as possible and not later than 28 October 2003.

Languages

The workshop will be conducted in English.

Travel Costs and Arrangements

FAO will provide the most direct economy round-trip air tickets to Nadi and a standard Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) for the duration of the workshop. After the nomination is confirmed, travel arrangements will be made by the FAO Sub-Regional Office for the Pacific and PTA/Airtickets will be sent in advance.

Venue

The workshop will be held at the Raffles Gateway Hotel in Nadi, Fiji. The address and the contact numbers of the Hotel are as follows:

Raffles Gateway Hotel
P O Box 9891 Nadi Airport, Fiji Island
Phone: (679) 672 2444

Fax: (679) 672 0620

http://www.rafflesgateway.com/

Additional Information

A General Information note on the arrangements for the Workshop will be circulated later.

For further information, please contact:

Mr. Fred Baker

Senior Statistician

Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations

Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

39 Phra Atit Road

Bangkok 10400 Thailand

Tel. (66-02) 697-4250

Fax: (66-02) 697-4445

e-mail: Frederick.Baker@fao.org