135
2.
Population overweight (%)
This indicator was selected in order to investigate the nutrition aspects in Mediterranean countries. In
fact, according to the MDG Report (2015)
18
, they all have reached values that are lower than 5% for what
concerns the share of population undernourished.
The percentage of population overweight is estimated according to the data related to the Body Mass
Index (BMI), that is an index of weight-for-height that is commonly used to classify underweight,
overweight and obesity in adults. It is defined as the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the
height in meters (kg/m
2
). The population with a BMI value equal or higher then 25 is classified as
overweight
19
. The increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity is associated with many diet-related
chronic diseases including diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, stroke, hypertension and certain
cancers.
Source: World
Health
Organization
(WHO),
Global
Database
on
Body Mass
Index
(
http://apps.who.int/bmi/index.jsp
)
3.
Land Use (%)
An indicator describing the land use was identified in order to keep track the change of land area referred
in particular to agriculture and forest in time. The extension of the different types of land area is
expressed as percentage of the total land area. The
Agricultural land includes the land area that is arable,
under permanent crops,
and under permanent pastures
20
:
Arable land includes land defined by the FAO as land under temporary crops (double-cropped
areas are counted once), temporary meadows for mowing or for pasture, land under market or
kitchen gardens, and land temporarily fallow. Land abandoned as a result of shifting cultivation
is excluded.
Land under permanent crops is land cultivated with crops that occupy the land for long periods
and need not be replanted after each harvest, such as cocoa, coffee, and rubber. This category
includes land under flowering shrubs, fruit trees, nut trees, and vines, but excludes land under
trees grown for wood or timber.
Permanent pasture is land used for five or more years for forage, including natural and cultivated
crops.
The
Forest area is the land under natural or planted stands of trees of at least 5 meters in situ, whether
productive or not, and excludes tree stands in agricultural production systems (for example, in fruit
plantations and agroforestry systems) and trees in urban parks and gardens.
It is important to follow the variation in time of these portions of total land use to monitor possible
conflicts between urban, forest and agricultural land due, for example, to population increase and/or
other pressure factors.
Source: Worldbank database (
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND.AGRI.ZS
)
4.
GHG emissions (total and AFOLU – t CO
2e
)
18
UN, Millennium Development Goals Report, New York, 2015
(
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/mdg/Resources/Static/Products/Progress2015/English2015.pdf
)
19
WHO, Obesity: preventing and
managing the global epidemic, Geneva, 2000
(
http://apps.who.int/bmi/index.jsp?introPage=intro_5.html
)
20
WB, Worldbank database(
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND.AGRI.ZS
)
136
This indicator is aimed at defining the total net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, expressed in tons of
CO
2
equivalent (tCO
2e
), in the Agriculture, Forest and other Land Use (AFOLU) sector
21
, according to the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2006 guidelines (with updates to the 2013 ones) for
the national GHG inventory
22
.
Investigating the GHG emissions of the AFOLU sector allows monitoring the emissions related to the
several land types and to the land use change as well. Livestock is an increasingly important factor for
GHGs increase. By means of this indicator and the previous one about land use it is possible
to evaluate
the behavior of Mediterranean countries with respect to a critical issue such as the climate change.
Source: UNFCCC database (
http://unfccc.int/ghg_data/ghg_data_unfccc/items/4146.php
)
5.
Cereal Yield (kg/ha)
This indicator was selected in order to evaluate countries on one of the main sectoral aspects about
agriculture: efficiency in producing cereals. It is worth to note that this indicator has to be coupled with
indicators 8 and 9 on water efficiency and availability, indicator 7 on fertilizer efficiency and should be
combined with one about the integrity of soil to better analyze the performance of systems under study.
In fact an improvement of the agriculture yield is desired, unless the soil is stressed with an excessive
uptake of
nutrients, or too much water is used compromising its availability for other purposes.
The indicator cereal yield, expressed as kilograms per hectare of harvested land, includes wheat, rice,
maize, barley, oats, rye, millet, sorghum, buckwheat, and mixed grains. Production data on cereals relate
to crops harvested for dry grain only
23
.
Source: Worldbank database (
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.YLD.CREL.KG
)
6.
Agriculture Value Added (US$/worker)
This indicator is aimed at measuring the agricultural productivity in money terms. Value added in
agriculture measures the difference between output of the agricultural sector (International Standard
Industrial Classification - ISIC divisions 1-5
24
) and the value of intermediate inputs. Agriculture comprises
value added from forestry, hunting, and fishing as well as cultivation of crops and livestock production
25
.
Data are in constant 2005 U.S. dollars.
Source:
Worldbank database, (
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EA.PRD.AGRI.KD
)
7.
Fertilizers consumption (kg/ha
arable land
)
This indicator, together with
cereal yield and
agriculture value added, provides a focus on the agriculture
sector. With regard to fertilizers, it would be meaningful to monitor also the total load discharged into
the Mediterranean Sea. This approach allows including the evaluation of biophysical limits in the
monitoring system.
Fertilizer consumption is expressed as kilogram of fertilizer per hectare of arable land and measures the
quantity of plant nutrients used per unit of arable land
26
. Fertilizer products include nitrogenous, potash,
and phosphate fertilizers (including ground rock phosphate). Arable land includes land defined by the
21
SDSN, Indicators and a Monitoring Framework for the Sustainable Development Goals – Launching a Data Revolution,
May 15, 2015 (
http://unsdsn.org/resources/publications/indicators/
).
22
Eggleston HS, Buendia L, Miwa K, Ngara T, and Tanabe K (eds.), IPCC guidelines for national greenhouse
gas inventory,
2006.
23
WB, Worldbank database (
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.YLD.CREL.KG
)
24
UNSTAT, International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities, Rev.3
(
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/cr/registry/regcst.asp?Cl=2
)
25
WB, Worldbank database (
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EA.PRD.AGRI.KD
)
26
WB, Worldbank database (
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.CON.FERT.ZS
)