FAO-backed Agricultural Sector Survey Kicks Off

The Ministry of Planning in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries will start conducting data surveys on the agriculture and fishery sectors in what officials said is a ground breaking step for the improvement of agricultural statistics in the country.

Farmers attending to their products in a plantation during harvesting season. KT/Chor Sokunthea Named the Inter-Censal Agriculture Survey and funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the initiative was signed yesterday and the process will start with 800 random villages. Twenty farmer families in each village will be studied in the survey, according to the Ministry of Planning, which said it will be carried by officials from the National Institute of Statistics in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, and FAO. The result of the survey will be finalised and published late in the first semester next year. The survey costs $1.3 million. It will provide a flow of agricultural statistics and strong basis for improving policy and decision making in the sector. The initiative is supported by the AGRI Survey Program, and is based on researches through the FAO’s Global Strategy for Improving Agricultural and Rural Statistics. The survey will collect data on the agricultural sector, rice and crop farming, livestock, aquarium, but it will include data on fisheries, rubber, business-agriculture, micro loan for agricultural activities for both families and commercial firms, Chhay Than, Minister of Planning said. Alexandre Hynh, FAO Cambodia representative said the initiative is designed to further develop the sector, improves food security and livelihoods of small-holder farmers, and for poverty reduction. “Availability and accessibility to timely and reliable data are pivotal for the development of responsive policies and progressive agricultural programs,” Mr Hynh said. This article was originally published in the Khmer Times.