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MANAGING AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE NSDSTHE
EXPERIENCE OF UGANDA
EXECUTIVE DIRECTORUGANDA BUREAU OF STATISTICS
ISI Satellite Meeting Maputo, August 2008
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OUTLINEIntroduction
Status of Agricultural Statistics in Uganda
Efforts to mitigate the situation
Institutional arrangements
The NSDS and the Agricultural Sector
Conclusions
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Introduction
Agriculture is the most dominant sector in Ugandas economy
currently it contributes about 21% of GDP and employs more than 80%
of the population.
Agricultural Statistics in Uganda covers crops, livestock and
fisheries hence the Ministry responsible is called Ministry of
Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries
Other players include parastatal bodies for major cash crops
(coffee, cotton, tea)
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Status of Agricultural Statistics in UgandaThe Agricultural
Statistical System and infrastructure have never been fully
developed in Uganda though a good start had been made in the 1950s
and 1960s under the Agricultural Reporting Service of the Ministry
responsible for agriculture.
The last published agricultural census results were those for
1963-65
Agricultural Reporting Service of the Ministry of Agriculture
then, collapsed with the decentralization policy that devolved
administrative, planning and monitoring functions from the centre
to the districts
Before development of the Integrated Framework for Agricultural
Statistics in Uganda in 2000, there was no comprehensive national
work program on agricultural statistics
Poorly coordinated efforts in agricultural statistics production
resulted in low quality and inconsistent products that did not meet
user needs
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Efforts to mitigate the situationThe NSO became an important
source of agricultural statistics from its National Household
Survey rounds of 1995/96, 1999/2000 and 2005/06
The 2002 Population and Housing Census carried an agricultural
module to facilitate creation of a sampling frame for subsequent
agricultural surveys
The agricultural modules will continue to be accommodated in the
Long Term Household Survey program of the NSO (2007-2017)
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Efforts to mitigate the situation
The Livestock census was conducted in 2008 by the Ministry of
Agriculture with technical support from the National Statistical
Office Joint supervision done
Uganda is currently undertaking a census of agriculture (Sept
08-Sept. 09) Spearheaded by the National Statistical Office in
collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture The exercise is
jointly supervised
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Census of Agriculture in picturesThe Speaker of Parliament of
the Republic of Uganda Unveils the Census 2008 logo in November
2008
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Institutional arrangements to support Agricultural statisticsThe
Integrated Framework for Agricultural Statistics in Uganda (2000)
could be viewed as the first Agricultural Sector Strategic Plan for
Statistics.
An important feature of the Framework implementation
arrangements was the proposed formation of a National Agricultural
Statistics Coordination Committee (NASCC) and the National
Agricultural Statistics Technical Committee (NASTC).
Both Committees (NASCC & NASTC) drew membership from a cross
section of data producers and users, policy makers and implementers
in the agricultural sector.
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Operationalization of NASCC and NASTC While the two committees
were well-intended and TORs carefully developed, only the NASTC has
been fully operationalized
NASTC has contributed to reviews and approval of workplans for
agricultural censuses and surveysProvided technical guidance on
sampling design and quality controlFacilitated sharing of good
practices in development of agricultural statistics
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Integrating agricultural statistics into the National
Statistical System - the NSDS framework A sectoral approach was
used in the design of the NSDS. This involved dialogue with
stakeholders in the agricultural sector
Agricultural Statistics cannot be developed in isolation, it
must be part of the national strategy for developing statistics in
all the sectors
In Uganda, under the NSDS a detailed process of consultations
led to development of a vision for the entire National Statistical
System
The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries was
among the pioneer Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) under
Ugandas NSDS
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The process of designing an agricultural strategic plan for
statistics in the context of NSDS
Selection of contact personsContact persons selected were
statisticians from the Agricultural Planning Unit All planning unit
staff of the ministry of agriculture were sensitized as a starting
point
Identification and use of ChampionsThe Commissioner Agricultural
Planning was the Champion for statistics in the ministry. The
Commissioner also doubled as the chairperson to the NASTC
The Champion was the main change agent in the Ministry of
Agriculture
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The process of designing an agricultural strategic plan for
statistics in the context of NSDSCreation of a Committee for
StatisticsEach department of the ministry was represented on the
committee Crop husbandry, Livestock & FisheriesThe Committee
was used to monitor statistical developments within the Ministry
and other sister institutionsThe Committee was a starting point for
inter-departmental harmonization
Creating Training opportunities NSO mobilized resources to
support training in Statistical Analysis, sampling, M&E,
etcSome trainings were done together for NSO staff and MDAs
staffThis created some form of common ground for developing
statistics in both the NSO and the MDAs.
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Managing with the right InformationAssessments were made in the
agricultural sector
To establish the status quo level of statistical developmentSWOT
analysisStrategies for statistical development were based on the
situational analysis and the SWOT analysis
The Agricultural Sector Strategic Plan for Statistics (SSPS) The
SSPS for the Agricultural sector is a strategy that indicates the
actions necessary for developing statistics in the sector. Any
support for statistics in the sector must be based on the SSPSThe
SSPS was developed in a consultative manner with all the key
stakeholders in the sector and with support from the NSOThe SSPS is
one of the building blocks for the NSDS
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International NetworkingTapping and sharing experiences
A team from Malawi NSO on an NSDS study tour atUBOS
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Highlights of the assessment of the Agricultural sector under
the NSDSAnalysis of the sector indicated that there are:Many data
gaps
Limited coordination between producers and users; particularly
between the ministry and parastatal bodies attached to the
ministry
No budget lines for statistics in the ministry
Inadequate staffing levels in the statistics unit
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Strategies for developing statisticsunder the NSDS..Coordination
and management Increase coordination between data producers and
usersScaling up the statistics unit in the MDA responsible for
agricultural statisticsStreamline data flow channels between the
center and local governmentsCarry out periodic data needs
assessments in the sectorSensitize local governments on the
importance of an Early Warning System informed by statistics
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Strategies for developing statisticsunder the NSDS..Human
Resource Development and management Train staff in data management
and statistical analysis
Develop the capacity of individual farmers to keep records of
their farming operations
Develop the capacity of local governments to generate accurate
statistics with support from the National Statistical Office
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Strategies for developing statisticsunder the NSDSStatistical
InfrastructureDevelop a Master Sampling Frame
Develop standard reporting formats for all field staff
Create an information system for the agricultural sector
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Conclusions Agricultural statistics is generally poor in
Uganda
In the absence of regular Agricultural censuses, National
Household surveys have provided a stop gap
Inter-sectoral committee on agricultural statistics has worked
but it has its own challenges
The solution to managing agricultural statistics lies in the
development of the NSDS
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ConclusionsThe National Statistical Office in Uganda has
supported the Ministry responsible for Agricultural statistics to
develop an Agricultural Sector Strategic Plan for Statistics
The Agricultural Sector Strategic Plan for Statistics is a good
management mechanism of agricultural statistics
Agricultural statistics cannot be developed in isolation. The
Agricultural Sector Strategic Plan for Statistics is one of the
building blocks for the NSDS
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