Dubsky Statement

national | miscellaneous | news report Monday December 30, 2002 19:25 by The King M_o_brien2 at hotmail dot com

Dubsky issues new statement

In 1998 the farming sector contributed an estimated 5.2% of GDP and employed almost 130,000 people which accounted for 8.7% of total employment. However, this employment figure is based on the concept of Principal Economic Status used in the Labour Force Survey and excludes many of those who work part-time in agriculture. Based on the CSO’s Agricultural Labour Input Survey, the total number directly employed in agriculture in 1998 was 275,100. These equate to 200,200 full time jobs or Annual Work Units - AWUs, of which 183,000 were family labour.

The sector generated further production and wealth through backward and forward linkages with those who supply services and inputs to farming and those who are employed in the processing sector. In 1998, the agri-food sector, which comprises farming and food manufacturing, accounted for 8.8 % of GDP and 11% of total employment.

In terms of the sector’s contribution to exports, primary agriculture accounted for 7.2% of total merchandise exports in 1997, while the agri-food sector contribution was approximately 12%. A more comprehensive measure of the economic contribution of agriculture is the extent of net foreign earnings. This is measured as the receipts of foreign exchange from exported produce less the associated outflows of foreign exchange on imported materials and repatriation of profits by export businesses.

Accordingly lets all have a party!