Abstract

Launched in July 2019, the Food and Agriculture Microdata (FAM) catalogue (https://microdata.fao.org) documents and disseminates more than 1,226 studies that are publicly available through its web platform. These studies include licensed microdata and metadata from agricultural surveys and censuses conducted by different institutions, including national governments and FAO technical units (through various projects, such as the 50by2030 project). The datasets from the Food Insecurity Experience Surveys (FIES) are an important part of the FAM catalogue. They provide an essential input to the preparation of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) Report and are the basis for the compilation of one of the two official indicators to monitor SDG target 2.1. In addition, microdata on farm productivity of selected crops across 42 countries collected by Syngenta, a well-known multinational company, along with the associated metadata have recently been disseminated through the FAM Catalogue. Most recently, the microdata from IFAD’s (International Fund for Agriculture Development) project impact assessment surveys are being disseminated on FAM platform. This paper will discuss on the procedures set to avail microdata related to food and agriculture on FAM catalogue including the quality assurance, data confidentiality and the procedures put in place to access microdata.