Agricultural census kicks off next year

By Joyce Namutebi
           
Countries to undertake agricultural census beginning next year, the Food and Agricultural Organisation has announced.

“These censuses are crucial for governments to implement evidence-based policies to foster agricultural and rural development, ensure access to land, improve food security and reduce the adverse environmental impacts of agricultural activities,” according to information released from Rome today.

Census data are also essential for the private sector to make informed decisions that guide their investments in agri-business activities, FAO said.

The new global round of country-driven agricultural censuses set to begin in 2016, is a large-scale, data collection process that will gather information and statistics on the world's agricultural sector.

To support the process, FAO today published a set of updated guidelines to assist governments in carrying out their national-level agricultural censuses, tailored to various different country needs and capacities. This is the latest edition of guidelines which FAO provides every 10 years, the organisation explained.

“The information collected provides an accurate picture of the agricultural sector and a reliable sampling frame for current agricultural surveys. In particular, the censuses entail a complete account of the structure of the agricultural sector, including the number and size of holdings, land use, crop area, crop intensity, irrigation facilities, agricultural input use, livestock numbers, as well as farmer demographics and employment.”

For the first time, the new census programme provides guidance on how to obtain and integrate data on fisheries (capture fisheries activities as aquaculture was already included) and on greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions from agricultural activities.

"The use of these guidelines by FAO member countries ensures that census results are harmonized and internationally comparable, and allows countries to benchmark their performance against others," Pietro Gennari, FAO Chief Statistician, said.

"They address the requirements of both developed and developing countries, and provide the foundation for the development of an integrated census and survey programme, for using innovative methods and tools for data collection, and ultimately, for making better informed strategic decisions," he added.
 
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