Concepts and Definitions of Supply Utilization Accounts (SUAs)

22/04/23 FAO, Statistics Division 1

Concepts and Definitions of

Supply Utilization Accounts (SUAs)


A statistical framework consisting of a series of Supply/Utilization Accounts (SUAs) for food and agricultural commodities can be a powerful tool for making the best use of available statistical information in formulating plans for developing the agricultural sector.

Establishing such a system will also help to see many inconsistencies in the statistical series, leading to a better recognition of the need to improve statistics on food and agriculture.


GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLY/UTILIZATION ACCOUNTS

The statistics of any single commodity have to be traced all the way from:production and utilization to final consumption.

The core statistics of such a statistical framework are the SUAs for food and agricultural commodities.

For each product, the SUA traces its supplies its utilization in different forms.


SUA Equations

These elements can be inter-related in a number of balancing equations: First one is the sum of the supply elements:

opening stocks + production + imports=A Second is the sum of the utilization elements: exports + feed + seed + waste + processing for food + food +

other utilization + closing stocks=B. A=B

The preparation of a balance for each of its elements available is necessary reliable and independent information. If no information is available for one of the elements, the residual

will provide an estimate.

The construction of balances of this type is rendered difficult by the absence of adequate information on opening and closing stocks. Experience shows, however, that information on changes in

stocks is made more readily available than on their actual size.


If a net decrease in stocks is defined as "from stocks" and a net increase in stocks as "to stocks" the following two equations will be

obtained:

i) from stocks + production + imports = exports + feed + seed + waste + processing for food + food + other utilization;or:

ii) production + imports = exports + feed + seed + waste + processing for food + food + other utilization + to stocks.

Domestic utilization is defined as the sum of:

feed + seed + waste + processing for food + food + other utilization.

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OpeningOpeningStockStock

ProductionProduction

ImportsImports

FOODFOOD

FeedFeed

ExportsExports

SeedSeed

WasteWaste

ProcessingProcessingfor foodfor food

Other Other utilizationutilization

ClosingClosingStockStock

Domestic Domestic utilizationutilization

The statistics of any single commodity have to be traced all the way from production and utilization to final consumption and to identify the normal equation:

Estimation of the Food availability


Advantages and Uses of SUAs

The advantage of storing the commodity data in the form of SUAs is that they are internally consistent in the sense that each element of supply of a commodity matches the other and total supply matches total utilization.

This system provides a check on the plausibility of statistical data supplied by various national and/or international agencies.

It also provides a useful tool for choosing between alternative sources of data and a logical framework for estimating missing observations.

Since total supply equals total utilization, the accounts are in the form of balancing equations with the result that one element usually is considered as the remainder.


In addition to the requirements for the analysis of individual commodities, account has to be taken of the use of SUAs in the preparation of various derived statistical measures, e.g.:

i) Food balance sheets: These present a comprehensive picture of the pattern of a country's food supply.

ii) Index numbers of production, trade and supply.

iii) Self-sufficiency ratios and import dependency ratios


Time Reference PeriodProblems relating to the time reference period to be used in reporting production, one of the most important elements in the SUAs, are manifold.

Several twelve-month periods, such as July/June, October/September, April/March, have been proposed and tested.

However, none of these periods covered satisfactorily and uniformly the production of all agricultural commodities and their use in a country.

The application of a calendar year time reference period during which the bulk of the harvest takes place also helps in linking the agricultural statistics with those of the industrial and other sectors of the economy.


CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS USED IN SUAs

Commodity Coverage: Among the various criteria to be taken into account when setting-up a commodity list, choosing suitable reporting units deserve particular attention. The data should be expressed in common units in

order to facilitate international comparisons and the metric system should be adopted whenever possible.

Values and prices should be converted and expressed in terms of a suitable currency. Some statistics, however, should be expressed in units, such as human and animal populations.


Supply and Utilization Elements

Generally, SUAs are constructed for primary crops, livestock and fish commodities up to the first stage of processing in the case of crops and to the second (and sometimes the third) stage of processing in the case of livestock and fish products.

The reason for this restriction on the higher stages of

processing is that it is difficult to obtain data for all the forms of processed products and even more difficult, perhaps impossible, to trace the components of processed composite products.


The typical SUA for crops is composed of the following major elements:

Supply Utilization01 Opening stocks 08 Addition to stocks02 Area sown 09 Exports03 Area harvested 10 Feed04 Yield 11 Seed05 Production 12 Waste06 Imports 13 Processing for food07 Withdrawal from stocks 14 Food direct

15 Other utilization16 Closing stocks

The SUA for livestock includes the following elements:01 Stock numbers 05 Births02 Females in reproductive age 12 Natural losses03 Females actually reproducing 13 Animals slaughtered04 Birth rate 17 Take-off rate


The accounts for derived commodities do not have the element 02, while elements 03 and 04 become, respectively, "input" and "extraction rate" in the case of crops.

03 input 04 extraction rates

For livestock products, 03 is "animals slaughtered" or "milking animals" and 04 is "carcass weight" or "yield per animal". All other elements remain the same. The account for primary fish commodities is composed of the following elements:

05 Production 12 Waste 06 Imports 13 Processing 09 Exports 14 Food direct 10 Feed 15 Other utilization 11 Breed/bait

The accounts for fish commodities obtained after processing include the following additional elements:

01 Opening stocks 07 Withdrawal from stocks 03 Inputs 08 Addition to stocks 04 Extraction rate 16 Closing stocks.

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22/04/23FAO, Statistics Division

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Concepts and Definitions of Supply Utilization Accounts (SUAs)