Guidelines on defining rural areas and compiling indicators for development policy Publication prepared in the framework of the Global Strategy to improve Agricultural and Rural Statistics Guidelines on defining rural areas and compiling indicators for development policy December 2018 Contents Acronyms 6 Preface 7 Acknowledgements 8 CHAPTER 1 1. INTRODUCTION 9 1.1. Objectives 9 1.2. Definition of rural areas 10 1.3. Rural statistics 11 1.4. Definition of an indicator 12 1.5. Process of work 12 CHAPTER 2 2. CONSTRUCTING A DEFINITION OF RURAL 14 2.1. Concept of rurality 14 2.2. Dimensions of rurality 18 2.2.1. Sparse settlement 19 2.2.2. Remoteness 20 2.2.3. Land cover 21 2.3. Defining rural areas for international comparisons 23 CHAPTER 3 3. RURAL DEFINITION: IMPLEMENTATION 25 3.1. The harmonized urban/rural definition 25 3.2. Development and specification 25 CHAPTER 4 4. MOTIVATING AND USING RURAL STATISTICS 31 4.1. National and rural policy objectives 31 4.2. Using rural statistics in decision making 34 4.2.1. Demand for statistics 35 4.2.2. Users of statistics 35 CHAPTER 5 5. DESIGNING RURAL DEVELOPMENT MONITORING SYSTEMS 37 5.1. Monitoring and evaluation 37 5.2. Information included in a monitoring system 38 CHAPTER 6 6. SELECTING A SET OF POLICY RELEVANT INDICATORS 40 6.1. Criteria for selecting indicators 40 6.2. Categories of indicators 42 6.2.1. Economic 43 6.2.2. Social 43 6.2.3. Environmental 44 6.3. Selection of key rural indicators 44 6.4. Supplemental indicators 48 CHAPTER 7 7. REPORTING INDICATORS: IMPLEMENTATION 55 7.1. Organizing data using the harmonized definition 55 7.1.1. Census data 57 7.1.2. Survey data 57 7.1.3. Administrative records 58 7.2. Going forward 58 CHAPTER 8 8. COST AND TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS 60 LIST OF BOXES Box 1. Indicators used in decision-making 64 Box 2. Selected country definitions of urban and rural 65 Box 3. Why Grid statistics 66 Box 4. Definition of well-being 67 Box 5. Sustainable Development Goals 68 Box 6. A framework for development 69 Box 7. Steps in evidence-based policy making 71 Box 8. The Nuts & Bolts of M&E Systems 73 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Key indicators by dimension 45 Table 2. Crosswalk between SDG and proposed rural indicators 47 Table 3. Key SDG indicators for rural policy 55 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Hierarchy of classes in the harmonized definition 28 Figure 2. Class thresholds for the harmonized urban/rural definition 29 Acronyms DEGURBA Degree of Urbanization DFID Department of International Development EC European Commission EU European Union FAO ` Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations GHSL Global Human Settlement Layer GIS Geographical Information System GLC-SHARE Global Land Cover – SHARE GO Global Office GSARS Global Strategy to improve Agricultural and Rural Statistics IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development ILO International Labor Organization JRC Joint Research Centre M&E Monitoring and Evaluation NSO National Statistical Offices OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development SAC Scientific Advisory Committee SDG Sustainable Development Goal UN United Nations UNGA United Nations General Assembly UN-HABITAT United Nations Human Settlement Programme UNSC United Nations Statistical Commission UNSD United Nations Statistics Division VCG Voluntary Commitment Group WB World Bank WDR World Development Report 6 Preface These Guidelines aim to support decisions about rural development policy by offering concepts and methods to improve the quality, availability, and use of statistics. The Guidelines are the result of a research project undertaken within the Global Strategy to improve Agricultural and Rural Statistics (GSARS), a statistical capacity-building initiative whose Global Office (GO) has been hosted by the Statistics Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The Guidelines build upon methodologies developed in papers, technical reports, and manuals published by the FAO and other organizations. The Guidelines have two main objectives. One is to propose a definition of what territory is considered rural that recognizes the differences between what is urban and what is rural and also among places within rural areas. The definition allows comparison of “like” areas within and between countries. The second objective is to identify a set of indicators that provide information on how well rural people are faring across the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of their lives and work. These indicators are organized according to the definition of different types of rural areas. The Guidelines present and explain how to construct a rural definition that is useful for organizing statistical information about rural areas. In the definition, the unit of geography that is used to build up aggregated rural areas within countries is uniform in size, in contrast to the sizes of typical administrative and political units (e.g., census tracts, provinces) that vary within and between countries. These same-sized parcels are sorted into classes based on shared values of specific measures of the size and density of population. The starting point for the definition is the separation of urban from rural areas. The definition of urban is also based on the pattern of human settlement (its size and density) in built-up areas and is combined with the rural definition to create a single harmonized urban/rural continuum. The Guidelines evaluate and identify a sub-set of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Indicators that are particularly relevant for assessing the well-being of individuals and households in rural areas. The methods for collecting data and constructing the indicators are explored, as in the use of statistical indicators in policy design, monitoring, and evaluation. 7 Acknowledgments These Guidelines are the result of a collective effort of experts at FAO and around the globe. In the GO of GSARS, their development and preparation were overseen by Flavio Bolliger and Arbab Asfandiyar Khan, the Research Coordinator of GO. Christophe Duhamel, Coordinator of GSARS, provided valuable input. Giulia Conchedda of FAO was instrumental in the refinement of the harmonized urban/rural definition and in the conduct of tests of the definition in seven countries. Consultant Giacomo Delli also gave extensive support to the work on the definition. Jacques Delince offered key advice and made important connections with experts in the European Commission (EC). In the EC, Lewis Dijkstra of the Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy and his colleagues, Thomas Kemper, Martino Pesaresi, and Aneta Florczyk at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Ispra, Italy, were cooperative and collegial, sharing their expertise and devoting much time and effort in incorporating the GSARS and FAO perspectives on rural areas into the work on the harmonized definition and the Global Human Settlement Layer. In addition, many experts from international organizations, national statistical offices, and universities authored technical reports to support the work on rural statistics and participated in a January 2018 workshop organized by GO at FAO headquarters in Rome. The contributions of all involved are much appreciated. Special note is taken of the numerous colleagues in National Statistical agencies who carried out tests of the rural definition and indicator construction in their own countries. The lead contacts in each country were: Claudio Stenner, Brazil, Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica (IBGE); Angélica Maria Palma Robayo and Sandra Liliana Moreno Mayorga, Colombia, Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística (DANE); David Levy, France, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (INSEE); Aberash Tariku, Ethiopia, Central Statistical Agency (CSA); Manisah Othman, Malaysia, Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) ; Munwar Ali Ghanghro, Pakistan, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS); John Cromartie, United States, Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service (ERS). 8 1 Introduction 1.1 Objectives These guidelines aim to support decisions about rural development policy by offering concepts and methods to improve the quality, availability, and use of statistics. There are two main objectives. One is to propose a definition of what territory is considered rural that recognizes the differences between what is urban and what is rural and also among places within rural areas. The definition allows comparison of “like” areas within and between countries. The second objective is to identify a set of indicators that provide information on how well rural people are faring across the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of their lives and work. These indicators are organized according to the definition of different types of rural areas. Using the definition and indicators, progress toward ending poverty and hunger, among other goals, can be assessed within groups of rural people in similar circumstances. Recognizing commonalities as well as differences among people can result in policies that are better targeted and consequently more effective. Countries around the world seek to make life better for their people. Ending poverty and hunger, ensuring healthy lives, and providing education are among their principle aims. Reflecting these aspirations, national governments and international organizations are pledged to meet the SDGs by 2030 (UN 2017). Success will depend on progress in promoting sustainable development in its three dimensions: economic, social,