Measuring Agricultural GDP Performance: A Technical Route

Agricultural product and input prices have been on a rollercoaster for the last three years, impacting not only market incentives for production worldwide, but also access to food for consumers, especially those in low income brackets in developing countries. Both of these impacts have been studied by international institutions, which have analyzed price transmission and generated food security indicators. However, there is another important aspect that needs to be analyzed, the impact of this price variability on agricultural incomes, which is addressed in this technical note. It is shown how, with very simple calculations and using current national accounts, it is possible to obtain indicators of change in the income of the factors of production in agriculture by making adjustments in production volumes and in real agricultural prices. This can be very useful in designing policies, but further analysis is required of how agricultural performance,income generation and poverty alleviation are linked (Valdes et al. 2008).