This is a call for economists, statisticians, agronomists, researchers and analysts working on agricultural, forestry, fishery, and rural statistics, in their economic, social and environmental dimensions, to participate in the upcoming Sixth International Conference on Agriculture Statistics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 23-25 October 2013. The theme of the Conference is “Improving Statistics for Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture, and Rural Development. Linking statistics with decision making”. The Conference will provide an opportunity to focus on issues raised by the implementation of the “Global Strategy to Improve Agricultural and Rural Statistics”, unanimously endorsed by the UN Statistical Commission.

Background

The International Conference on Agricultural Statistics (ICAS) is organized every three years, starting from 1998, under the auspices of the International Statistical Institute (ISI) Committee on Agricultural Statistics. The Sixth ICAS (ICAS-VI) will take place on 23-25 October 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It will be preceded by two-day training sessions for young statisticians from developing countries, organized by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The Conference will be hosted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) under the leadership of an international Scientific Programme Committee, which is co-chaired by IBGE and USDA`s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

ICAS-VI will review the efforts derived from the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Global Strategy, sharing best practices and solutions on its implementation; report the first results of the diagnostic procedures of national statistical systems; and review initiatives aimed at capacity building and training. It will also be a favorable occasion to reflect on the recommendations of the strategy, based on practical experiences of its implementation; and to examine its reach and assess new methodological development needs.

The conference is open to the entire international agricultural statistical community. One of the objectives of the next Conference is to broaden the participation, involving more widely the academic and research community working on statistical issues related to agriculture. Given the location of the Conference, agricultural statisticians with experience in Latin America are particularly encouraged to participate.

Sessions format and organisation

The Conference is organized in 5 plenary and 21 parallel sessions addressing topics on analytical and policy needs, institutional development, capacity building and statistical production process. The topics to be covered by the program can be checked at the List of Sessions menu.

Final papers should provide the basis for session organizers and chairs to work with their discussants to shape their session. Additional papers on the same topic will be made available in a Poster Session.

The Conference will be conducted in English, with simultaneous translation to Portuguese and Spanish. Papers may be presented in any of these three languages.

Papers and abstracts

Please submit abstracts for papers, not exceeding 500 words in English, by 31 January 2013, including the title, names of all authors, and full postal and e-mail addresses of the corresponding authors. Abstract acceptance will be communicated by 04 March 2013. Full papers must be sent by 30 June 2013. Papers should focus on the topics covered by the Technical Sessions, which can be found here.

Abstracts and papers will be submitted centrally through this website and be automatically disseminated to session organisers.

Final paper, to be completed by 01 September 2013, will have to incorporate input and comments that may be provided by the Programme Committee.

Deadlines

• 31 January 2013: Abstract
• 04 March 2013: Communication of acceptance
• 15 July 2013: Paper submission
• 01 September 2013: Final version

Questions

For any question concerning the Conference Programme, you may contact Mr Michael Steiner (michael.steiner@nass.usda.gov) or Mr Flavio Bolliger (flavio.bolliger@ibge.gov.br). For any question concerning the content of your paper, you will be put in contact with your session organiser.