29 August 2012: A workshop on “Improving Statistics for Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development – Africa Action Plan” highlighted the importance of ensuring the availability of statistics and data sets on the agriculture and rural sectors in the face of emerging development issues such as food vs. biofuels, climate change, environmental degradation and food security.

Organized by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Ethiopian Central Statistics Agency, the workshop was convened to inform participants on, and build capacity for, implementing the “Global Strategy for Improving Agricultural and Rural Statistics,” as well as “Improving Statistics for Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development – an Action Plan for Africa 2011-2015.” During the workshop, participants were informed that the Action Plan has been produced to guide the implementation of the Global Strategy, noting that AfDB has taken a number of steps to support the implementation of the Action Plan.

The African Action Plan aims to address: the declining quantity and quality of agricultural statistics in developing countries; data requirements to inform policy on emerging isues such as competition between food and biofuel production, environmental sustainability, food security, and climate change adaptation and mitigation practices; and the need for data system harmonization and integration.

The workshop took place from 27-29 August 2012, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. [AfDB Press Release] [UNECA Press Release] [Action Plan for Africa 2011-2015 Webpage] [Publication: Improving Statistics for Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development – an Action Plan for Africa 2011-2015]