The OECD launched the Network on Agricultural TFP and the Environment in 2017, where experts gather together to share experiences and best practices, and aim to develop a framework for cross-country agricultural TFP comparisons. In due course, the ambition is to create a set of “environmentally-adjusted” TFP (EATFP) indicators.

An important part of the network’s activities will be to develop an approach that countries can use to construct productivity accounts for the measurement of TFP and EATFP trends. The OECD acts as a co-ordinator and facilitator to help convene people with common interest.

In the coming years, the Network will continue developing analytical approaches to key issues already identified such as land input and climate change.

Its first output has been the development of methodological and practical guidance specific to TFP and EATFP measurement in agriculture, following the OECD’s “Measuring Productivity” Manual. Existing international guidance such as the UN System of Environmental Economic Accounting (SEAA) contains an agricultural component and is used as a starting point.

The recent publication Insights Into the Measurement of Agricultural Total Factor Productivity and the Environment is a combined collection of the work undertaken by the Network and proceedings of its meetings, with each chapter or annex authored by a member of the Network. The content is under the responsibility of the authors, with the OECD having played the role of facilitator.

Based on the work by the Network, the OECD has also published a non-technical document for policy makers: Agricultural Total Factor Productivity and the Environment: A guide to emerging best Practices in Measurement.