FAO Agricultural Statistics Commission holds its 32nd Session in Paraguay with representatives from 32 countries

The Latin American and Caribbean Commission on Agricultural Statistics (LACCAS), a body of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), is holding its 32nd session for the first time in Paraguay, with the participation of representatives from 32 countries in the region. 

The meeting began today and will run until 28 March in Asunción. It is jointly organized by FAO’s Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (RLC), FAO in Paraguay, the National Institute of Statistics (INE), and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) of Paraguay. 

The event brings together senior statistical officials from the 32 member countries responsible for developing food and agricultural statistics in their respective countries. 

In addition to the delegates designated by the Member States, FAO-associated institutions have also been invited as observers with the right to speak. Technical experts from the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Subregional Office for the Caribbean (SLC), and FAO headquarters also participated in the deliberations. 

“The Latin American and Caribbean Commission on Agricultural Statistics is the largest regional platform to advance the methods and practices used to collect, analyze, and disseminate sectoral statistics. It is a space for discussion and experience-sharing that helps us improve the quality and quantity of data available to guide public policy,” explained José Rosero Moncayo, Director of FAO’s Statistics Division. 

For his part, Iván Ojeda, Director of INE Paraguay, highlighted FAO’s cooperation and the importance of statistical data. “Thanks to the ongoing support of FAO, Paraguay has made significant progress in statistics. For the first time, we were able to measure the experience of food insecurity, which is part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” he noted. 

“With FAO’s support, Paraguay was also able to carry out the National Agricultural Census after 14 years, and we are currently working on the National Agricultural Survey,” added the INE Director. 

“The design of policies, investment programmes, development projects and strategic decisions must be based on evidence—on data. That is the best way to objectively interpret reality,” said Iván Felipe León Ayala, FAO Representative in Paraguay. 

The core topics of the session’s agenda include recent developments and innovations related to FAO’s activities in Latin America and the Caribbean since 2023, SDG indicators under FAO’s custodianship, food balance sheets, agricultural censuses, Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI), and food systems statistics. 

The session was preceded by the meeting of the Regional Working Group on Agricultural Statistics within the framework of the Statistical Conference of the Americas (SCA) of ECLAC, which focuses on the current state of sampling frames for agricultural surveys and regional efforts to support countries in the development, maintenance, and updating of these frames. 

The 32 LACCAS member countries are: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela.