1-4 December 2015, Kigali, Rwanda

AFCAS brings together senior statistics officials from FAO member countries of the African continent, who are responsible for the development of agricultural statistics in their respective countries. They review and exchange ideas on the state of food and agricultural statistics in the continent and advise member countries on the development of their agricultural statistical systems within FAO's programme of Work and Budget for Africa.

 

Participants'views

 

Mohammed Ahmed Barre

Regional Statistician for the Near East and North Africa Region,

Cairo, Egypt

 AFCAS is a forum where we meet every two years. I have a very positive impression about AFCAS; it is the best forum for statisticians to exchange their experiences. This year's AFCAS has been a very successful one. As you may be aware, Agriculture plays an important role in enhancing the livelihoods of many Africans, especially the rural folks. It's therefore important for agricultural statisticians to gather occasionally to share ideas and determine the the best way forward.

Every AFCAS country member should put the recommendations to serious use and ensure that it guides agricultural policy framework. The recommendations touch on new trends, proposed solutions to problems and success stories from countries and it is worthy of replicating in individual countries.

Some of the major challenges facing countries in the area of data collection is lack of capacity. Timely data is difficult to collate. It's necessary we build capacity to equip filed workers with adequate skills to collect timely and accurate data on agriculture.

 

Patrick Okello,

Director of Agriculture and Environmental Statistics

Uganda

This year's AFCAS is well organized and well attended. The topics were carefully chosen and highlighted the stubborn challenges that Africa is facing in the compilation of agricultural statistics, ranging from inadequate financing, skilled manpower, methodical issues and tools.

I must say AFCAS has benefitted participants immensely especially in the area of technical guidance by experts in FAO who bear a mixture of experiences and ideas.

We will use AFCAS recommendations to influence top management at Uganda bureau of statistics. The recommendations are used to argue a case for agricultural statistics at higher echelons including Parliament and Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development. We have also learnt the application of advance technology in generating agricultural statistics from other countries

 

Agnes Kyalo,

Ministry of Agriculture, livestock and fisheries

Kenya

AFCAS is a wonderful platform which brings major players in agricultural statistics together. I appreciate the good work by organizers. On the African continent, in matters of agricultural statistics, countries are at different levels, and have varied challenges and diverse opportunities.

AFCAS helps us to align experiences, learn what is applicable to our countries and customize it in a cost effective way. It provides a channel to directly interact with organizers who develop documents for our use and also give direct feedback through Skype and personal interactions.

Agricultural statistics in Kenya is collected by multiple stakeholders. The main problem is coordination and as a result, there is a lot of duplication. Yet the mandated body to collect is the Kenya National Bureau of statistics. There is no harmonized methodology to be followed, except what the Kenya bureau uses as internationally accepted standards. We lack skilled officers for data collection hence the quality of data is often compromised.

 

 

Sandra Modise

Statistician,

Botswana

It's my first time to attend the AFCAS. I found it a very informative and interactive platform for both professionals and technical personnel from different organizations. It is quite an eye opener and I congratulate FAO for the platform. I believe since its inception, it has achieved its objectives. Those of us who are attending the 24th session have benefited tremendously.

The recommendations will provide us with the much needed technical support. It will help us to overcome the institutional challenges with respect to data collection. One unique thing is that recommendations emanate from participants which address different issues from the varied countries attending the meeting. 

Of course data gathering has its own peculiar difficulties. One such is inadequate funding and lack of regular capacity building programs.

 

Stephane Mugabe

Team Leader, Agricultural and Environmental statistics

National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR)

This is an opportunity for my country and me in particular to learn and share experiences from and with other AFCAS country members. And also to get informed about new data requirements and recent advances on world program of agriculture census, environmental statistics and cost of production.

These recommendations will help to implement the action plan for agricultural and rural statistics, while developing a food balance sheet for food availability. The agreed recommendations will inform formulation of policy and dissemination of official statistics.

 

Abdoulaye Adam,

Statistician, African Development Bank Delegate

Côte d'Ivoire

AFCAS is a good opportunity for African statisticians and stakeholders to meet and discuss how to improve agricultural statistics. It is a forum for learning and receiving feedback. It will help us to sensitize decision/policy makers when we go back home.

No doubt that, lack of resources, human, material and logistics in most countries is an issue. Data is not of good quality in most cases and therefore it's not used by politicians. We have to find way to break this cycle to ensure that we gather quality data that can be used in formulation of development policies.

 

Tessema Deme

Statistician, Central Statistical Agency

Ethiopia

Ethiopia is incorporating sustainable development goals into its Statistical Division. We have discovered a data gap especially in the areas environmental statistics. AFCAS comes in handy as we intend to collaborate with FAO to improve on methodology and the appropriate tools to be used.

The central statistical agency is a decentralized body and has the right to collect data and disseminate it, however the data gap is an issue coupled with lack of skilled human resources to close the data gap.  When I return back home, we will try to incorporate the AFCAS recommendations into our statistical system.

 

Mzee Mohammed Mzee

Head of Agricultural Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources

Zanzibar, Tanzania

Generally AFCAS has been a good medium for statisticians to discuss issues related locally and globally. It also afforded us the opportunity to learn about new technological approaches and researches that are taking place in the area of agriculture and rural statistics. Agriculture is the backbone of economics. If we have reliable statics, it helps in decision making to improve the livelihoods and food security as well as the general economy.

I believe recommendations should depend on the resources available for our country to effectively use them. Actually, my coming here apart from the AFCAS has given me the opportunity to build network.

In Tanzania, just like my colleagues kept on sharing, among the major constraints is budgetary allocation which is very meager. Lack of qualified personnel and retention schemes is another barrier to success.   Most allocation goes into other areas of agriculture like production. Agricultural statistics require multiple-disciplinary approach, to combine and to have better methodologies.

 

M'hamed Tifouri

Ministry of Agriculture

Algeria

The forum was well organized. I have learnt a lot from my colleagues, shared ideas and experiences. AFCAS is worth attending as a statistician. Congratulations to the organizers. They have done extremely well.

We are inspired by all the experiences from our peers, we will surely apply the knowledge we acquired from AFCAS.

 

Collected by [email protected]  and [email protected] , in Kigali