This publication is a methodological review of the agricultural censuses conducted within the framework of the Programme for World Census of Agriculture 2000. It covers methodological aspects like enumeration methods and techniques, census frames, geographical and holding type coverage, census scope, date processing and tabulation, data quality and dissemination, integration of agricultural censuses with other censuses and surveys.

This publication reports the main characteristics of the structure of agriculture in countries as defined by the characteristics of agricultural holdings, gender of holder, land tenure and land use, crops, livestock, etc., and the metadata on each agricultural census covered in the publication. The 2000 programme covered the censuses carried out during the decade (1996 - 2005). Some 122 countries are reported to have carried out an agriculture census during the decade, and 114 countries made available their census reports to FAO.

FAO has supported member countries to carry out their national agricultural censuses since 1945, through the development and dissemination of international standards, concepts, definitions and methodologies as well as technical assistance. In 2015, FAO published Volume 1 of the World Programme for the Census of Agriculture 2020 (WCA 2020) “Programme, concepts and definitions”, the tenth decennial programme that provides guidelines for implementation of national agricultural censuses in the 2016-2025 decade. Volume 1 deals with the methodological and conceptual aspects of the census of agriculture. In addition to the use of international standards, the proper conduct of an agricultural census also depends on adequate planning, implementation, use of resources and quality assurance throughout all stages of the census. In light of this, Volume 2 of WCA 2020 “Operational guidelines” has been designed to guide national census practitioners responsible for conducting the agricultural census. It deals with the practical steps involved in actually conducting an agricultural census in the field. Volume 2 is a revised and updated edition of “Conducting Agricultural Censuses and Surveys”, published by FAO in 1996. The revision is opportune not only in view of the recent publication of the new census programme and methodology but also in view of the substantial changes witnessed in the census technological environment over the last two decades. The availability of digital, mobile and more affordable tools for data capture, geo-positioning, remote sensing imaging, digital archiving and online dissemination have provided new cost-effective alternatives to traditional ways of conducting the agricultural census.

This publication offers a synthesis of the major factors at play in the global food and agricultural landscape. Statistics are presented in four thematic chapters, covering the economic importance of agricultural activities, inputs, outputs and factors of production, their implications for food security and nutrition and their impacts on the environment. The Yearbook is meant to constitute a primary tool for policy makers, researchers and analysts, as well as the general public interested in the past, present and future path of food and agriculture.

This yearbook presents selected key indicators related to agriculture and food security that the international community, governments, the private sector and civil society can use to assess current trends and prioritize actions. It has two main sections, one thematic and one country-specific. It presents a variety of dimensions of agriculture and food security in four focus areas: the setting; hunger dimensions; food supply; and environment. The book is part of the FAO Statistical Yearbook suite of products; it includes data from FAOSTAT and other FAO databases and international organizations.

First Published in 2003. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This publication is a methodological review of the agricultural censuses conducted within the framework of the Programme for World Census of Agriculture 2000. It covers methodological aspects like enumeration methods and techniques, census frames, geographical and holding type coverage, census scope, date processing and tabulation, data quality and dissemination, integration of agricultural censuses with other censuses and surveys.

The new edition of this annual publication (previously published solely by IFOAM and FiBL) documents recent developments in global organic agriculture. It includes contributions from representatives of the organic sector from throughout the world and provides comprehensive organic farming statistics that cover surface area under organic management, numbers of farms and specific information about commodities and land use in organic systems. The book also contains information on the global market of the burgeoning organic sector, the latest developments in organic certification, standards and regulations, and insights into current status and emerging trends for organic agriculture by continent from the worlds foremost experts. For this edition, all statistical data and regional review chapters have been thoroughly updated. Completely new chapters on organic agriculture in the Pacific, on the International Task Force on Harmonization and Equivalence in Organic Agriculture and on organic aquaculture have been added. Published with IFOAM and FiBL

Few Americans know much about contemporary farming, which has evolved dramatically over the past few decades. In The Changing Scale of American Agriculture, the award-winning geographer and landscape historian John Fraser Hart describes the transformation of farming from the mid-twentieth century, when small family farms were still viable, to the present, when a farm must sell at least $250,000 of farm products each year to provide an acceptable level of living for a family. The increased scale of agriculture has outmoded the Jeffersonian ideal of small, self-sufficient farms. In the past farmers kept a variety of livestock and grew several crops, but modern family farms have become highly specialized in producing a single type of livestock or one or two crops. As farms have become larger and more specialized, their number has declined. Hart contends that modern family farms need to become integrated into tightly orchestrated food-supply chains in order to thrive, and these complex new organizations of large-scale production require managerial skills of the highest order. According to Hart, this trend is not only inevitable, but it is beneficial, because it produces the food American consumers want to buy at prices they can afford. Although Hart provides the statistics and clear analysis such a study requires, his book focuses on interviews with farmers: those who have shifted from mixed crop-and-livestock farming to cash-grain farming in the Midwest agricultural heartland; beef, dairy, chicken, egg, turkey, and hog producers around the periphery of the heartland; and specialty crop producers on the East and West Coasts. These invaluable case studies bring the reader into direct personal contact with the entrepreneurs who are changing American agriculture. Hart believes that modern large-scale farmers have been criticized unfairly, and The Changing Scale of American Agriculture, the result of decades of research, is his attempt to tell their side of the story.