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82. Closely linked with the FAO Vitamin A Programme is the FAO Programme on the Promotion of Under-exploited Traditional Food Plants for improving nutrition and food security. Within this context, in September 1989, with FAO support, the first Asian inter-country workshop on the "Promotion of Under-exploited Traditional Food Crops of Nutritional Importance" was held in Nepal with participants from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand and the Philippines.
83.
In Thailand and Indonesia, as contribution to the global project GCP/INT/444: "Integration of Population Issues with Field Level Nutrition Training", the Agricultural University of Chiang Mai and the University of Bogor respectively have developed the national versions of a nutrition training package entitled "Population Education and Nutrition". In China, project CPR/86/015 "Nutrition Manpower Development Project" is aiming, in cooperation with Chinese universities, at establishing degree courses in community nutrition and undergraduates and certificate courses in dietetics.
VII.
FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION AND ANALYSIS
Development of Agricultural Statistics
84.
The Twelfth Session of the Asia and Pacific Commission on Agricultural Statistics (APCAS), held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in August 1988 reviewed the follow-up action on socio-economic indicators for monitoring the WCARRD Plan of Action and discussed the methods of post-enumeration surveys for agricultural censuses, and new approaches to data collection in agricultural statistics such as community level statistics and the use of remote sensing for land use statistics.
85. FAO supported several innovative projects which are expected to have a major impact on the development of agricultural statistics in the countries concerned. For example, a major project in China "Italy /FAO Food and Agricultural Statistics Centre, China" is assisting in the establishment of a permanent training centre in Beijing for senior provincial statisticians who will in turn train junior staff, thus providing a high multiplier effect. Another example is the sub-regional project in the South Pacific: "Development of Agricultural Statistics", which, with relatively small resources, provides assistance in the organization of agricultural censuses and/or annual statistical systems in 12 participating countries, some of which are without any tradition in collecting agricultural statistics. The approach adopted by this project is appropriate for the situation of small island countries: the same equipment is used by different countries on a loan basis, similar questionnaires suited to individual countries are used, and the TCDC concept is introduced through the use of countries' expertise developed by the project in neighbouring countries. About 200 national staff from these countries was given on-the-spot training for carrying out agricultural censuses or surveys.
86.
Assistance was provided to Cook Islands, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, Samoa and the Solomon Islands for the preparation of their agricultural censuses. Advice was given to Banglasdesh and Nepal on improving statistics in view of building up a food information system for food security and early warning system. Assistance through country projects was also provided to Bangladesh for the development of community level statistics, to India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and the Philippines in various aspects of the preparation of their agricultural censuses.
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