The food balance is the economic table, reflecting sources of resources’ formation of the main type of food products and purposes its using. The food balance reflects statistical data on movement from product output to its final consumption and gives an opportunity to analyse current situation, to forecast its development condition, to estimate need to import, to determine of consumption fund of the food products in food products market.
Food balance reflects detail description regarding food security of country in particular time and consists of two sections (parties). The first section reflects information on availability of resources and sources of their formation, the second section reflects information on purposes of use of the available resources.
The statistical data of food balance are of particular importance in obtaining of food self-sufficiency and dependence level on foreign trade (import) of the country.
Food balance is compiled according to the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan 20 November, 2009 No 181 on “Regulation on compilation of food balance” by the State Statistical Committee based on annual data and by following kinds of products:
Plant-growing products
1. Total grains
2. Wheat
3. Barley
4. Maize
5. Oats
6. Other kinds of grains
7. Total leguminous
8. Potato
9. All kinds of vegetable
10. Market garden crops
11. Fruit and berry
12. Grape
Livestock and fishery products
13. Meat in carcass weight (all kinds of cattle and poultries)
14. Cattle meat
15. Mutton and goats meat
16. Pork
17. Poultry meat
18. Milk and dairy products
19. Egg
20. Fish and fish products
Food products of industry origin
21. Polished rice
22. Flour
23. Groats
24. Salt
25. Liquid vegetable oils
26. Macaroni
27. Margarine
28. Butter
29. Cheese
30. Sugar
31. Tea and other basic kinds of food products
MAIN POINT OF DIFFERENT PARAMETERS OF FOOD BALANCE AND ITS ESTIMATION
The balances of agricultural products are prepared based on separate plant-growing and livestock products by unique scheme. Resources and utilizations sections consist of different parameters. The method of preparation and source of data supply by these parameters is differed by separate kinds of products.
1. Production
The main source in food balances` formation is the volume of production of product and this indicator at the same time is the main parameter of resources section of balance. Here is reflected data on produced appropriate agricultural product or food stuff of the same product by country.
The information on production of the agricultural products should covered all categories of agricultural producers (data on volume of products produced at the state agricultural enterprises and organizations, collective – joint farms, open and closed joint-stock companies, LTD, agricultural co-operatives, other kinds of agricultural enterprises and organizations, private entrepreneur, family–peasant farms, households and country side enterprises) in compilation of the food balances.
While calculation of the indicator on “production” of agricultural products (grain and leguminous, vegetables, fruit, meat, milk, egg), the data on production of plant-growing and livestock products by all categories of farm is calculated for calendar year. The data on grain and leguminous is calculated based on brown weight, milk – based on fat content and meat – carcass weight.
The statistical data on “production” with respect to manufacturing of the agricultural products (grain, sugar, vegetative oil, cheese, butter and etc.) as well as fish and fish products are calculated based on data of the corresponding manufacturing organizations. Such kinds of data are determined based on data of the industry statistics as well as in the results of the sample surveys of agricultural producers and households.
Information on production of corresponding food products in the statistics of industry are prepared based on legal and natural entities. This information includes raw products of both manufacturing organizations and customers (for example, volume of services on grinding of wheat of citizens).
2. Import and export
Source of data on import and export of the corresponding agricultural and food products are obtained from customs statistics. Statistical data on import and export characterizes the volume of imported and exported agricultural and food products by persons living in the territory of the country and enterprises and organizations that are carried out operations on import and export of corresponding products. The import and export is realized in the moment of transition of products to national border, irrespective of registration of cargo in customs services. Food products transported from the country territory by transit are not considered in the import and export indicators.
According to Customs Code, as an alternative source of data on import and export it is used the information of the State Veterinary and Phytosanitary Control Services under the Ministry of Agriculture about the quantity of less volume food products transported through the border by citizens not compiling the declaration.
3. Total resources
This parameter is a total indicator and includes the sums of previous three indicators (production, import and stock change), and characterizes volume of resources of corresponding agriculture and food products. The total of resources is equal to total of utilizations. This feature also characterizes correspondence of economic calculations to balance principle.
4. Calculation of data on use for seed in agriculture is implemented based on corresponding sown areas and sowing norms of agricultural plants recommended by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
So that, sown area on corresponding product (based on agriculture statistics data) is calculated as total of the sowing norm recommended by the Ministry of Agriculture, i.e
Here is:
Useed – use for seed in agriculture;
Asown – total of sowed area;
Nsown – reflects sowing norm.
5. The parameter for fodder in agriculture reflects the feeding of cattle and poultries with natural and processed products. Data on indicator for fodder in agriculture are calculated based on official statistical observations conducted in 2007-2010 and since the year 2011 according to the recommendation of “EC/FAO Programme on Information Systems to Improve Food Security Decision-Making in the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) East Area” using the relativity basing on average indicator of summary data of the official statistical observations conducted in 2007-2010.
6. The data on products processed for non-food purposes are collected from the corresponding manufacturing enterprises. This indicator includes data on production of non-food products from separate kinds of products. For example, medical supplies, disinfectants, some products for carrying out of experiments and etc. During winter time, the salt is used for snow roads and as fodder for cattle.
Industrial enterprises use salt for various purposes: for production of food products, in processing crude leather, colouring agent, metallurgy, production of soap, refrigeration engineering, ceramics and etc.
7. Losses
Under term “losses” it is considered products lost (stealed, spoiled, throwen out and etc.) and being not used because of different reasons by direct destination in the stage of storage, transportation, manufacturing and selling of appropriate products (agricultural and food products). Biological and natural losses are not included here.
The object of sample observation on studying losses are agricultural producers, manufacturing enterprises, warehouse facilities (terminals), trade organizations and catering establishments. At present, the State Statistical Committee does not study the data on losses through official statistical reports. Therefore, data on corresponding indicator are obtained based on official statistical observations conducted in 2007-2010 and since the year 2011 according to the recommendation of “EC/FAO Programme on Information Systems to Improve Food Security Decision-Making in the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) East Area” by using the relativity basing on average indicator of summary data of the official statistical observations conducted in 2007-2010 by the State Statistical Committee and by carrying out the corresponding calculations of the statistical data on losses.
8. Consumption of food product (directly or after manufacture) indicator is the balancing parameter of calculation on food balance. In other words, after deduction of all other data on uses from total resources the difference is found as the consumption of food product (use for food purposes). This such kind of calculation rule are applied only in the compilation of the food balances. For calculation statistical data based on this indicator it is necessary to use parameters of loss and stocks at the end of the year, as well as other indicators of the section “use”. Volume of products used for food purposes are calculated in last stage.
The quantity of per capita consumption is calculated based on data of the consumption of food product by population (products used for food purposes) and average annual number of resident population.
THE PROCEDURES ON ESTIMATION OF THE SELF-SUFFICIENCY LEVEL AND DEPENDENCE ON IMPORT
Parameters of self-sufficiency (Cselfsuf) and dependence on foreign trade (import) – Cimport are specific indicators of food balance. Methodology recommended by Food and Agricultural Organization of United Nations (FAO) is used on its calculation.
While analyzing the situation of food supply of the country one of the issues of studying is how many of available food resources have been imported and how much of them were obtained in the result of the domestic production. In this regard the level of dependence on foreign trade (import) is calculated and this indicator is calculated by dividing the volume of import to the result of subtraction of sum of production and import from volume of export. At calculation is used the formula:
Cimport=import/(production+import-export)*100
For calculation of self-sufficiency factor, it is necessary to divide volume of the production to the result of subtraction of sum of production and export from sum of import:
Cselfsuf=production/(production+import-export)*100