Page 87 - Special Topic Session (STS) - Volume 1

STS407 Jairo C. et al.
2) Focusing the content of the Agricultural Census on structural
items
Identifying the content of the census and that of the sample survey
programme is a challenging activity and should be undertaken in strong
cooperation between producers and users of agricultural statistics. This
activity might be difficult when statistical activities are under the
jurisdiction of different government institutions. For instance, the national
statistics office might be responsible for the AC, whereas ongoing sample
surveys such as agricultural production surveys are conducted by the line
ministry. In these circumstances, establishing coordination between all
agencies involved in the agricultural statistics’ production is paramount
(FAO, 2015 and 2018).
As highlighted in the WCA 2020, including too many items in the
census questionnaire would be counterproductive. The AC should include
only key structural data, but the characteristics which are better collected
through sample surveys (needed also on a more frequent basis) should
be included in the sample survey programme. In order to help countries
to identify the census content tailor made to country specific situation and
ensuring international comparison, the WCA 2020 classifies the items to
be included in the census into three categories:
(i) essential items (23 items in total);
(ii) frame items (15, of which 6 are also essential items); and
(iii) additional items (96).
However, the WCA recommends that an AC includes all essential items
to enable national and international comparison. Frame items for census
1
modules or follow-up surveys can also be included . Thus, the WCA 2020
recommends up to 32 essential and/or frame items to be used as a starting
point in defining the content of the AC in a country. However, the actual list
of country-specific census items should be established by each country in
close cooperation with the stakeholders.
3) Integrating the census with periodic rotating surveys
Countries apply different modalities for carrying out the ACs, depending
on country statistical capacity, national preferences and the availability of
resources and data sources. The changing environment and data
requirements have led some countries to conduct a detailed review of
their agriculture statistics programme, including alternative options for
conducting the AC. In addition to the classical and modular approaches,
the WCA 2020 introduced two new alternative modalities for cost-efficient

1 If a community survey is conducted together with the AC, countries can select from 34
community items recommended by FAO for the community survey to complement holding-level
items and other available data sources (i.e. statistical and administrative data).
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