Statistics essential for agriculture sector
A shift towards timely and accurate statistical data is necessary if Namibia wants to transform the agricultural sector and realise its full potential to achieve food and nutrition security.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) are therefore collaborating to develop Namibia’s strategic plan for agricultural and rural statistics (SPARS), as the country prepares to conduct its agriculture census.
At the signing ceremony of SPARS last week, NSA statistician general and chief executive officer, Alex Shimuafeni, said Namibia is shifting towards leading the fusion of technology and data and digitalisation.
This will involve embarking on a radical statistical revolution that could make way for an open-data policy to better manage public data source integration.
"To enable the country to meet the growing demand for high quality, close to real-time and accessible agricultural statistics, there is a need to develop statistical strategies that will aid as planning and implementation tools," Shimuafeni said.
Livelihoods
The agricultural sector remains an important sector in Namibia, sustaining thousands of livelihoods by supporting, directly and indirectly, 70% of the total population, most especially rural households.
The provision of reliable and timely data for informing national policies in the agricultural and rural sectors therefore prompted the need to implement SPARS.
Farayi Zimudzi, the FAO representative in Namibia, said the "project will also contribute in the long run to improving the availability, quality and accessibility of data and statistics pertaining to the food and agriculture sectors and all their underlying dimensions, including environmental, social, economic, and governance aspects of the sector."
Better statistics
The SPARS project will be managed and operated by FAO Namibia in partnership with NSA and other key stakeholders, including the agriculture ministry.
The project will be implemented over a period of 18 months, from 1 July 2022 to 31 December 2023 at a cost of about N$3,4 million.
It is expected to improve coverage for agricultural and rural statistics in the country, respond to regional and international requirements, and ensure that mechanisms for good agricultural sector integration into the NSA's current and future strategic plans are in place.
It will also improve administrative data for agriculture statistics by improve ng the presentation, consistency, quality and accessibility.
It will also improve administrative data for agriculture statistics by improving the presentation, consistency, quality and accessibility.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) are therefore collaborating to develop Namibia’s strategic plan for agricultural and rural statistics (SPARS), as the country prepares to conduct its agriculture census.
At the signing ceremony of SPARS last week, NSA statistician general and chief executive officer, Alex Shimuafeni, said Namibia is shifting towards leading the fusion of technology and data and digitalisation.
This will involve embarking on a radical statistical revolution that could make way for an open-data policy to better manage public data source integration.
"To enable the country to meet the growing demand for high quality, close to real-time and accessible agricultural statistics, there is a need to develop statistical strategies that will aid as planning and implementation tools," Shimuafeni said.
Livelihoods
The agricultural sector remains an important sector in Namibia, sustaining thousands of livelihoods by supporting, directly and indirectly, 70% of the total population, most especially rural households.
The provision of reliable and timely data for informing national policies in the agricultural and rural sectors therefore prompted the need to implement SPARS.
Farayi Zimudzi, the FAO representative in Namibia, said the "project will also contribute in the long run to improving the availability, quality and accessibility of data and statistics pertaining to the food and agriculture sectors and all their underlying dimensions, including environmental, social, economic, and governance aspects of the sector."
Better statistics
The SPARS project will be managed and operated by FAO Namibia in partnership with NSA and other key stakeholders, including the agriculture ministry.
The project will be implemented over a period of 18 months, from 1 July 2022 to 31 December 2023 at a cost of about N$3,4 million.
It is expected to improve coverage for agricultural and rural statistics in the country, respond to regional and international requirements, and ensure that mechanisms for good agricultural sector integration into the NSA's current and future strategic plans are in place.
It will also improve administrative data for agriculture statistics by improve ng the presentation, consistency, quality and accessibility.
It will also improve administrative data for agriculture statistics by improving the presentation, consistency, quality and accessibility.
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