Regional workshop on sampling for agricultural censuses and surveys. Amman, Jordan

Amman, Jordan 16 - 20 October 2011

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with the European Commission (EC) through the MEDSTAT III programme and Arab Institute of Training and Research in Statistics (AITRS) organized a Regional Workshop on Sampling for Agricultural Censuses and Surveys. The workshop was the fourth in the  global series of workshops on this theme. The earlier workshops were held at Accra, Ghana (April, 2010), Bamako, Mali (June, 2011) and Montevideo, Uruguay (June, 2011).

Outcome
The workshop contributed to upgrading the technical knowledge and skills of the national staff involved in the design and implementation of agricultural census and surveys in their respective countries. It also provided the participants with practical skills necessary for developing a programme for agricultural census and surveys for their countries using the sampling techniques while following a System of Integrated Agricultural Censuses and Surveys advocated by the FAO World Programme for the Census of Agriculture 2010 (WCA 2010) and the Global Strategy for the Improvement of Agricultural Statistics and Rural Development promoted jointly by the World Bank and FAO. The workshop  focused on practical aspects of sampling techniques. The teaching method included lectures, practical exercises using real data and group activities. 

Participants
The workshop brought together the professional statisticians working in the  Ministry of Agriculture and the National Statistics Office of the invited countries. The participants were sampling statisticians and leaders of census and surveys who are likely to play a role the planning and execution of agricultural surveys in their respective countries. Twenty-five participants from twelve countries viz.,  Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen attended the workshop.