This is a call for economists, statisticians, 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 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, conceptual framework, capacity building and statistical production process. The list of topics to be covered by the program is attached herewith. 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 and abstracts

Please submit abstracts for papers, not exceeding 500 words in English, by 15 December 2012, including the title, names of all authors, and full postal and e-mail addresses of the corresponding authors. Abstract acceptance will be communicated by 31 January 2013. Full papers must be sent by 31 May 2013. Papers should focus on the following list of Technical Sessions, whose description can be found in the Conference website:

Analytical and Policy Needs (APN)
APN 1: Environmental Issues
APN 2: Understanding the Nexus Gender – Agriculture through Better Data
APN 3: Measuring Welfare in Developing Countries in Practice: Beyond Income and Beside Consumption
APN 4: The Challenges of Measuring Labor and Employment in Developing Economies
APN 5: Measuring Contract Farming
APN 6: Agricultural Prices and Markets
APN 7: Food Security

Institutional Development and Capacity Building (IDCB)
IDCB 1: Measuring Country Capacity to Produce Agriculture Statistics
IDCB 2: Enhancing the Credibility of Survey Data through Better Quality Data: Old Tricks and New Techniques in Data Quality Control
IDCB 3: Dissemination
IDCB 4: Administrative Data
IDCB 5: Agriculture Structure: Development of a Harmonized Farm Typology for Policy Analysis
IDCB 6: Reconciling Data and Integrating Systems
IDCB 7: Estimates, Forecasts, Expert Opinions and Assessment: Their Role in the Official Statistics on Agriculture

Statistical Production Process (SPP)
SPP 1: Master Frames
SPP 2: Survey Design and Sampling Strategies for Agricultural Surveys
SPP 3: New Technologies for Data Collection for Agricultural Surveys and Statistics
SPP 4: Crop and Yield Forecasting
SPP 5: New Developments in Livestock and Fishery Statistics
SPP 6: Census Integration
SPP 7: Remote Sensing Technology