PART TWO
AGRICULTURAL CENSUS ITEMS -
CONCEPTS, DEFINITIONS AND TABULATIONS(continue)

CHAPTER 12

AGRICULTURAL CENSUS TABULATION PROGRAMME

To be useful, data collected in an agricultural census must be presented in aggregated form, especially in statistical tables. This chapter presents the recommended tables for the agricultural census. The chapter is divided into three parts. Part A considers the tabulation programme for the collection of holding-level data. The most important census classification items are identified and proposed cross-tabulations for the core and supplementary census modules are presented. Part B discusses the tabulation programme for the community survey, including the presentation of community summaries and cross-tabulations of holding-and community-level data. Part C discusses the tabulation programme for the census of agriculture and aquaculture.

Introduction

12.1. Data collected in an agricultural census are only of statistical interest if they can be presented in aggregated form. This means that the data collected for each holding must be aggregated to provide totals, such as the number of cattle in a given province or the number of holdings in the country growing cassava. In a community survey, aggregate results such as the percentage of communities with seasonal food shortages are produced. The primary form of presentation of statistical data is a statistical table. The tabulation programme for an agricultural census is the set of statistical tables prepared to present the census results

12.2. The tabulation programme for an agricultural census must be determined before designing the census questionnaires; otherwise, one may find out after the data collection that the data collected do not meet the requirements for the tabulation programme. Also, the tabulation programme may have direct implications for the census design; for example, the level of administrative units to be presented in the tables could be a decisive factor in choosing between complete or sample enumeration, or in deciding what sample size is needed

12.3. Statistical tables present different types of summarized measures:

-   Totals for items collected, such as the total area of sugar cane harvested.

-   Total number of units with certain characteristics, such as the number of holdings with pigs

-   Averages for items, such as the average area of holding.

-   Percentages, such as the percentage of holdings using organic fertilizers or the percentage of communities with electricity connected

12.4. A feature of statistical tables is that they provide data classified according to various characteristics. For example, one may wish to know the average household size for different farm sizes, or the percentage of holdings using organic fertilizers for holders of different ages. Here, “area of holding” and “age of holder” are the classification items. In most censuses and surveys, there are some main classification items used in many tables. Often, classification items need to be formed into suitable classes for presentation in the tables. Thus, in the above example, age of holder needs to be divided into suitable age groupings and area of holding into suitable area groupings

12.5. Often, cross-tabulations are prepared showing census data classified by two different items simultaneously. An example of a cross-tabulation is a table showing the number of holdings classified by age of holder and area of holding. This would be a two-way table showing the number of holdings in each age/area class; for example, one cell of the table would show the number of holdings for which: (i) age of holder is in the range 20–29 years; and (ii) area of holding is in the range 1.00–1.99 ha

12.6. An important element in preparing the agricultural census tabulation programme is deciding on the tabulation classes. Often, there are international standards, and countries should adhere to those wherever possible to help make comparisons between countries. Attention should also be given to consistency between statistical collections in the country; for example, it would be difficult to relate data if age groups 0–9, 10–19, etc. were used in one collection and 0–10, 11–20, etc. in another. Recommended classifications for use in the agricultural census tabulation programme are presented in this chapter. Where countries wish to use different class groupings, they should also report the results according to the standards given here

Part A: Core and supplementary modules

Core items to be tabulated

12.7. The tabulation classes and reference group for each core item are summarized in Figure 12.1. The reference group refers to the group of holdings to be tabulated for the item; for example, the item “area irrigated” is only meaningful for land holdings. There is more than one way to tabulate some items; for number of livestock, for example, holdings can be tabulated according to whether they have each type of livestock or to the number of a particular type of livestock they have

Main classification items

12.8. Nine main classification items from the core module have been identified for tabulations of the core and supplementary modules. The nine items are discussed in the following paragraphs. Reference is made to the item numbers in Figure 12.1

12.9. Administrative or agro-ecological zone (Item 0001). The sub-division of census data into administrative or agro-ecological zones is one of the key tabulation requirements

12.10. Legal status of holder (Item 0002). This provides a basis for comparative analysis of holdings operated by households, cooperatives, corporations, etc

12.11. Area of holding (Item 0008). Area of holding is the most widely used classification item for agricultural census tables as it usually provides a good measure of size of holding, particularly for regions with homogeneous land. Area of holding may have limitations as a size measure. It may include forest, woodland or other land not used for agricultural purposes. It also disregards land quality; for example, non-irrigated land in an arid or semi-arid region may be much less productive than irrigated land elsewhere, and land at high altitudes may have an entirely different productive capacity from the same land area at a lower level. The area of holding measure also neglects land use intensity: one piece of land may produce two or more crops per year, whereas for another, a crop may be produced only every two or three years

12.12. Area of agricultural land (Item 0007a). This may be a more suitable size measure for some purposes as it directly measures the land used mainly for crop production. Other land measures, such as area of permanent crops, may also be useful classification items

12.13. Number of livestock (for a particular livestock type) (Items 0013a–0013f). The number of livestock of a particular type is a suitable measure of the size of livestock activity where there is one predominant kind of livestock in the country and where livestock raising is a major activity. For example, in an important sheep raising country, it may be useful to classify agricultural census data according to classes based on the number of sheep, such as 1–4 head, 5–9 head, etc. Normally, it is only possible to classify agricultural census data on the basis of a particular type of livestock, rather than for all livestock or groupings of livestock types, as it is difficult to meaningfully group livestock of different types. Sometimes, groupings such as “large animals”, “small animals” and “poultry” can be used to describe cattle/buffaloes, sheep/goats/pigs, and chickens/ducks, respectively

12.14. Main purpose of production (Item 0006). Purpose of production is a useful measure in analyzing holdings according to their access to markets

Figure 12.1: Agricultural census core module - tabulation classes

12.15. Household size (Item 0005). Household size is a useful classification item for understanding the dependence of rural people on land and for evaluating household members as a source of labour for the holding. For tabulating on household size, some countries may wish to use equivalence scales, which take into account the demographic characteristics of households. For more information, see Expert Group on Household Income Statistics; Final Report and Recommendations (Canberra Group, 2001, pp. 40–41)

12.16. Sex of holder (Item 0003). Sex of holder is a useful measure in analyzing the role of women in agriculture and the disadvantages they face. Tabulating sex of holder is complicated by the existence of holders consisting of more than one person

12.17. Age of holder (Item 0004). This classification item provides a way of making comparisons between young and old farmers, and studying the effects of emigration from rural areas. Tabulating age of holder is complicated by the existence of holders consisting of more than one person

12.18. If a community survey is carried out as part of the agricultural census, consideration should also be given to using community-level data as classification items for tabulations in the core and supplementary modules. This is discussed in paragraphs 12.34–12.37

Core module: cross-tabulations

12.19. There are thousands of possible tables that could be produced from a typical agricultural census, even for a core module with only a limited number of items. Each core item could be cross-tabulated against each main classification item or even several main classification items at the same time. For example, the presence of aquaculture could be tabulated by administrative zone to analyse the geographical distribution of aquaculture, or by area of holding to analyse the relationship between aquaculture and farm size. Alternatively, the presence of aquaculture could be tabulated by administrative zone and area of holding together to analyse the relationship between aquaculture and farm size in different parts of the country

12.20. Generating a statistical table from an agricultural census requires specialist technical inputs, and countries must have a realistic census tabulation programme, taking into consideration the resources available and the importance of the information in each table. For example, tabulating area of holding by age of holder may be important, but is it necessary to tabulate type of permanent crop by age of holder? Countries should be cautious of classifying data too finely in cross-tabulations, because table cells may be based on only one or two holdings, which may breach confidentiality. Also, if the core census module is carried out on a sample basis, census estimates based on few sample holdings will have unacceptably high sampling errors

12.21. The most common cross-tabulations for the core census module are summarized in Figure 12.2. The rows of Figure 12.2 show the core items to be tabulated. The columns show the nine main classification items given in paragraphs 12.9–12.17. Classification items appear in both the rows and columns. The body of Figure 12.2 shows the characteristic being measured in the cross-tabulation; in particular: N = Number of holdings; A = Area; L = Number of livestock

Figure 12.2: Agricultural census core module: recommended cross-tabulations

N = Number of holdings;
A = Area;
L = Number of livestock

12.22. The following example illustrates the use of Figure 12.2. Item “area of holding” (row) is shown as being classified against classification item “household size” (column) with the characteristics “number of holdings” and “area”. This means that two tables should be prepared: one showing the number of holdings for each area of holding and household size class as given in paragraphs 12.11 and 12.15; and the other showing the area of holding for each area of holding and household size class

12.23. Where “number of holdings” is being tabulated, the table cells may or may not be mutually exclusive. An example of mutually exclusive classes is where number of holdings is classified by household size; here, each holding can only belong to one household size class. An example of a table where classes are not mutually exclusive is where number of holdings is classified by land use; here, a given holding can be shown more than once in the land use classification - for example, a holding may have land under permanent crops, as well as forest and other wooded land

12.24. The tabulation programme in Figure 12.2 will not necessarily meet all data needs for the core census module. Countries should prepare additional tables as needed

Supplementary modules: cross-tabulations

12.25. The nine main classification items for the tabulation of the core census module, given in paragraphs 12.9–12.17, should also be used as the basis for the tabulation programme for the census supplementary modules. This is made possible by the use of the core census module to provide sampling frames for the census supplementary modules. Thus, data for a particular holding from a census supplementary module can be linked to data for the same holding from the core census module. For example, in a supplementary aquacultural module, aquacultural data could be cross-tabulated against core items like area of holding and household size

12.26. Cross-tabulations may also be prepared for each census supplementary module using classification items from the supplementary module itself. For example, in a supplementary aquacultural module, the data collected could be tabulated against area of aquaculture

12.27. The list of items recommended for the census supplementary modules is extensive and it is not possible in this volume to provide an exhaustive tabulation programme for each module and each item. Many different types of tables can be prepared, depending on the module. Tables can be based on different units, such as holdings, parcels, or household members. Tables may also measure different characteristics; for example, a crop supplementary could show crop data in terms of the “number of holdings growing a specific crop” or the “area of the crop harvested”. Some items need to be aggregated to the holding level for tabulation purposes; for example “presence of shifting cultivation” on the holding would need to be derived from the shifting cultivation data collected for each parcel

12.28. Instead of providing specific table recommendations for each item of each module, a summary of the core classification items relevant to items under each of the 12 census supplementary themes is given. This is shown in Figure 12.3. The rows show the 12 supplementary themes. The columns show the nine main classification items given in paragraphs 12.9–12.17. The interpretation of Figure 12.3 is illustrated in the following example. Four main classification items (administrative zone, sector of holding, area of holding, and household size) are shown as being relevant to the theme “irrigation and water management”. This means that any item under the heading “irrigation and water management”, such as area irrigated, should be suitable for tabulating against these classification items

12.29. A guide to the census supplementary cross-tabulations involving data from the supplementary modules themselves is given in Figure 12.4. This lists the main classification items for each supplementary module. For example, “area irrigated” is shown as a classification item for the module “irrigation and water management”. This means that “area irrigated” should be a suitable classification item for tabulating items in the “irrigation and water management” module

Part B: Community-level data

12.30. Community-level data in an agricultural census can be tabulated in two ways: first, to summarize the characteristics of communities; and second, to use as classification items for tabulations of census holding-level data in the core and supplementary modules

12.31. Some community-level data need to be formed into suitable groupings for tabulation purposes. This particularly applies to data on travelling time, where suitable groupings - for example: less than 1 hour; 1–2 hours; 2 hours or more - should be used to reflect how easy it is for people in the community to access a specific service

Figure 12.3: Agricultural census supplementary modules: cross-tabulations with core items

Theme		Main classification item
		Admin./ ecological zone	Sector of holding	Area of holding	Area of agricultural land	No. of livestock	Purpose of production	Household size	Sex of holder	Age of holder
0001	Land
0002	Irrigation and water management
0003	Crops
0004	Livestock
0005	Agricultural practices
0006	Agricultural services
0007	Demographic and social characteristics
0008	Farm labour
0009	Household food security
0010	Aquaculture
0011	Forestry
0012	Management of the holding

Figure 12.4: Agricultural census supplementary modules: main classification items in each module

Summary characteristics of communities

12.32. The primary tabulation requirement is for data on the number, or percentage, of communities with specific community characteristics, such as electricity, seasonal food shortages, or exposure to natural disasters. Tabulations may also be prepared showing the number of households or population with certain community characteristics

12.33. Tabulations mainly involve classifying community-level data by administrative or agro-ecological zone. Other classification items may also be useful, depending on the data collected:

-   Economic status, if available, may be able to be used to classify communities as “rich” or “poor”. A tabulation of the percentage of communities prone to natural disasters by economic status, for example, would highlight the relationship between natural disasters and poverty

-   Occurrence of seasonal food shortages. For example, the percentage of communities with farmer support organizations, classified by occurrence of seasonal food shortages, would indicate whether support was available for needy farmers

Community-level data as classification items for core and supplementary modules

12.34. The selection of community-level classification items for the tabulation of holding-level data in the core and supplementary modules will depend on the content of the community survey. Typical community-level classification items are:

-   Access to urban centre. This item is useful for analyzing agricultural practices of people living in isolated localities. Access can be defined in terms of the travelling time from the community to the nearest urban centre, or according to whether or not the community is connected to the urban centre by a year-round motorable road

-   Risk of natural disasters. This item can be used to analyse how farmers adapt their agricultural practices to cope with natural disasters, and the food security consequences. Sometimes, the classification shows the type of natural disaster, such as flood or storm

-   Economic status. If this item is available from the community survey, it could be used to classify communities as “rich” or “poor”, to provide a poverty dimension to the analysis of the core and supplementary census data. Sometimes, “poor” is divided further into “hungry” and “not hungry” groups

-   Occurrence of seasonal food shortages. This is a useful classification item for analyzing the food security aspects of agricultural holdings

-   Presence of periodic agricultural produce market. This item can be defined according to whether or not the community has a periodic agricultural produce market, or in terms of the travelling time from the community to the nearest agricultural produce market. This item is useful for analyzing crop and livestock activities in relation to the availability of markets

-   Access to veterinary services. This item can be defined according to whether or not veterinary services are available in the community, or on the basis of the travelling time from the community to the nearest veterinary services. This can be a useful classification item for analyzing livestock data, such as livestock deaths

-   Access to farm input trading centre. This is defined according to whether or not an input trading centre is available in the community, or on the basis of the travelling time from the community to the nearest input supplier. Sometimes, access for each type of input is provided. This classification item can be used to examine the constraints to improving agricultural productivity as a result of difficulties in accessing farm inputs

-   Access to rural bank. This is defined according to whether or not there is a rural bank in the community, or in terms of the travelling time from the community to the nearest rural bank. This classification item can be especially useful in analyzing credit data in relation to how easy it is to access a rural bank

-   Access to farmers' association. This is usually defined according to whether or not farmers' associations exist in the community. Sometimes, the different types of associations are identified. This item can help to study the benefits to farmers of such associations

-   Presence of government development programmes. This can be a useful classification item to examine how such programmes have benefited farmers

Figure 12.5: Agricultural census core module: cross-tabulations with community data

Core item		Community-level classification item
		Access to urban centre	Risk of natural disasters	Economic status	Occurrence of seasonal food shortages	Presence of periodic produce market	Access to veterinary services	Access to farm input trading centre	Access to rural bank	Access to farmers' association	Development programme
0001	Location of agricultural holding
0002	Legal status
0003	Sex of holder
0004	Age of holder
0005	Household size
0006	Main purpose of production
0007	Land use type
0008	Area of holding
0009	Land tenure type
0010	Irrigation
0011	Temporary crops
0012	Permanent crops
0013	Livestock numbers
0014	Aquaculture
0015	Forest and other wooded land
0016	Other economic activities

12.35. For the core census module, the most common cross-tabulations with the community-level classification items are shown in Figure 12.5. The rows show the core items, and the columns show the ten main community-level classification items given in paragraph 12.34. The use of Figure 12.5 is illustrated in the following example. Item “area of holding” (row) is shown against community-level classification item “economic status” (column); this means that a table should be prepared showing this cross-tabulation

12.36. For the census supplementary modules, it is not possible to provide an exhaustive list of cross-tabulations. Instead, a summary of the main classification items relevant to each of the 12 census supplementary themes is shown in Figure 12.6. The rows show the supplementary module themes, and the columns show the ten main community-level classification items given in paragraph 12.34

12.37. The following example illustrates the use of Figure 12.6. Four main community-level classification items (access to urban centre, risk of natural disasters, economic status, and occurrence of seasonal food shortages) are shown as being relevant to the theme “household food security”. This means that any item under the heading “household food security” - such as heights and weights of children - should be suitable for tabulating against these community-level classification items

Figure 12.6: Agricultural census supplementary modules: cross-tabulations with community data

Theme		Community-level classification item
		Access to urban centre	Risk of natural disasters	Economic status	Occurrence of seasonal food shortages	Presence of periodic produce market	Access to veterinary services	Access to farm input trading centre	Access to rural bank	Access to farmers' association	Development programme
0001	Land
0002	Irrigation and water management
0003	Crops
0004	Livestock
0005	Agricultural practices
0006	Agricultural services
0007	Demographic and social characteristics
0008	Economic activity of household members
0009	Household food security
0010	Aquaculture
0011	Forestry
0012	Management of the holding

Part C: Census of agriculture and aquaculture

Core module: cross-tabulations

12.38. For the core module of the census of agriculture and aquaculture, tables are required for both components of the census

12.39. For the agricultural census component, the tabulation programme is the same as in an agriculture-only census (see paragraphs 12.19–12.24)

12.40. For the aquacultural census component, the tabulation programme is different. Some of the classification items used in the agricultural census are not as important for the aquacultural census component. In particular, crop and livestock data are usually not applicable to aquacultural holdings. Seven main classification items are recommended for the aquacultural census, made up of six items used for agricultural census tabulations and one item specific to aquaculture. These are shown below, together with the relevant reference group

-   Administrative or agro-ecological zone (Reference group: all aquacultural holdings): as for agricultural holding tables (see paragraph 12.9)

-   Legal status of holder (Reference group: all aquacultural holdings): as for agricultural holding tables (see paragraph 12.10)

-   Area of holding (Reference group: all aquacultural holdings): as for agricultural holding tables (see paragraph 12.11)

-   Area of aquaculture (Reference group: all aquacultural holdings). This is based on Item 0017 (see paragraph 7.20). The area groupings should be the same as for area of holding (see Figure 12.1). This is a useful as a measure of size of the aquacultural activities

-   Household size (Reference group: all aquacultural holdings in sector “single-holding household” in Item 0002): as for agricultural holding tables (see paragraph 12.15)

-   Sex of holder (Reference group: all aquacultural holdings in sector “single-holding household” in Item 0002): as for agricultural holding tables (see paragraph 12.16)

-   Age of holder (Reference group: all aquacultural holdings in sector “single-holding household” in Item 0002): as for agricultural holding tables (see paragraph 12.17)

Figure 12.7: Aquacultural census core module: recommended cross-tabulations

Core item		Main classification item
		Admin./ ecological zone	Sector of holding	Area of holding	Area of aquaculture	Household size	Sex of holder	Age of holder
0001	Location
0002	Legal status
0003	Sex of holder					..	..
0004	Age of holder							..
0005	Household size
0006	Main purpose of production
0007	Land use type
0008	Area of holding
0009	Land tenure type
0010	Irrigation
0011	Temporary crops
0012	Permanent crops
0013	Livestock numbers
0014	Aquaculture
0015	Forest and other wooded land
0016	Other economic activities
0017	Area of aquaculture

12.41. Common cross-tabulations for the aquacultural census core module are shown in Figure 12.7

Supplementary modules: cross tabulations

12.42. The tabulation programme for the supplementary modules depends on the type of module and the units covered. If the module covers agricultural production units only, the tabulation programme is the same as in an agricultural census (see paragraphs 12.25–12.29). For an aquacultural module, the eight main classification items (see paragraph 12.40) would provide the basis of the tabulation programme