19 May 2023 – QUEZON CITY. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations conducted the Workshop on the Review and Validation of  Agricultural Indicators System (AIS) and Supply Utilization Accounts/Food Balance Sheet (SUA/FBS) from 15 to 19 May 2023 at the 12th Floor Eton Centris Cyberpod 5, Quezon City.

The PSA is the key partner and implementor of the FAO for its project, “TCP/PHI/3902/C2: Strengthening of Agricultural Statistics through the Review and Assessment of the Agricultural Indicators System (AIS) and Supply Utilization Accounts/Food Balance Sheet (SUA/FBS)”, which started in September 2022 and will conclude in June 2023. The project aims to strengthen the existing compilation of the SUA/FBS and the generation of the indicators for the AIS.

The SUA/FBS is one of the important products of the PSA as it presents a comprehensive picture of the pattern of a country’s food supply and utilization during a specified reference period. It is an important indicator for food policy analysis and food situation assessment.

Meanwhile, AIS is one of the statistical frameworks being maintained by the PSA. It was developed with the objective of providing measures for assessing socio-economic changes in the agriculture sector, characterizing the agrarian structure of the economy, and situating agriculture in the national economy.

The Interagency Committee on Agriculture and Fishery Statistics (i.e., National Economic and Development Authority, Senate Economic Planning Office, Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Bureau of Plant Industry, and Bureau of Animal Industry) and partner agencies such as the Department of Science and Technology-Food and Nutrition Research Institute, and the National Nutrition Council, participated in the Opening Program on 15 May 2023.

During the five-day workshop, outputs from the series of capacity building activities and consultative meetings conducted for the enhancement of the AIS and 2019 to 2021 SUA/FBS Compilation using the R-Shiny Tool were reviewed and validated.

This endeavor is one of the activities of the PSA, which is geared towards the improvement of agriculture and food statistics, particularly the AIS and SUA/FBS. This is in line with the PSA's goal of strengthening its products and services.

- Macroeconomic Accounts Service, Sectoral Statistics Office