19 - 23 April 2010, Accra, Ghana

The workshop was organized as a follow-up of recommendations of the 2009 meeting of the African Commission on Agricultural Statistics held in Accra, Ghana, and the Round Table Meeting on the World Programme for Census of Agriculture 2010 (WCA2010) organised in Kampala in 2008. FAO member countries expressed the need for building capacity in the region for use of sampling techniques for agricultural census, particularly because many countries of Africa face the resource constraint to undertake and agricultural census on complete enumeration basis, and the sampling techniques could provide a viable option for a cost-effective periodic agricultural census. Also, the implementation of the new modular approach to WCA2010 requires intensive use of sampling techniques.

Purpose
The Workshop aimed to provide training in the theoretical and practical aspects of sampling theory to participants from English speaking countries from Africa region, particularly keeping in view the new modular approach advocated in the World Programme for the Census of Agriculture 2010. Plans of the countries for implementing the next round of agricultural census and surveys were also reviewed.

Participants
The participants of the meeting were the sampling statisticians and census leaders, who are likely to play a role the planning and execution of upcoming agricultural census in their respective countries. A total of 30 participants from 16 countries attended the Workshop. The countries represented were: Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Evaluation
The participants mostly agreed that the workshop increased their knowledge on the subject. They showed particular interest in the sessions relating to application of sampling, estimation of sampling errors and the strategies for use of modular approach to collection of structural data.

Technical documents

Training materials

Reference documents