Two virtual trainings, organized by FAO, have taken place on May and June 2021, in the framework of the AGRISurvey programme in Nepal.   

One important objective of FAO’s AGRISurvey programme is to strengthen countries dissemination practices, including ensuring the release of agricultural survey microdata to users for analysis, research, policy design and monitoring. The programme also promotes data use activities to ensure increased and improved use of survey data to inform decision-making.

The two trainings, implemented in collaboration with the Central Bureau of Statistics of Nepal (CBS) and the Ministry of Agriculture, and livestock Development (MoALD)  focused on microdata dissemination with special attention on data anonymization or “Statistical Disclosure Control” (SDC) (24-28th May)  and microdata catalogue administration and maintenance (31st May -2nd Jun). FAO experts also provided technical support with the upgrade of CBS Microdata catalogue to NADA v 5.

SDC Training:

During the 5-days SDC course, participants from the CBS and MoALD were introduced to all the steps of the anonymization process for survey and census microdata. All commonly used SDC methods for microdata were presented and showcased using the R package sdcMicro  and its GUI sdcApp.

In addition, the training programme included hands-on working sessions on the anonymization of the microdata of Pilot Survey of the AGRISurvey programme in Nepal. The practical sessions saw technical discussions on all aspects of how to prepare, including anonymization, the microdata files to enable their safe sharing with the users.

The virtual training, organized via Zoom, was attended by more than 12 technical staff from CBS and MoALD. The course was successful with highly interactive and lively sessions, echoing motivated and enthusiastic participants. The activity, which is framed in a longer-term technical assistance programme on data dissemination, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, constituted a kick-off activity as FAO and CBS, in partnership with the MoALD, will continue to work closely together with more technical assistance sessions to be organized in the next few months to ensure proper finalization of the work, especially the preparation of anonymized data files of the 2019 pilot livestock survey and the 2021 livestock survey in view of their sharing with the users.

NADA Framework upgrade and Training:

The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) of Nepal is also geared up with the latest and secured National Data Archive (NADA) framework (v5) for microdata catalogue. Successful and smooth upgrade of the microdata catalogue was ensured by CBS IT team under the technical guidance of the AGRISurvey team. The microdata catalogue is available at: https://microdata.cbs.gov.np and accessible from any device such as a mobile, tablet, laptop and desktop.

After the upgrade, FAO provided a 3-days virtual training on microdata catalogue administration and maintenance, which was attended by five staff members from the CBS dissemination and IT unit. All the relevant aspect of adding and managing surveys, report generation, processing license request by the users and proper maintenance of the microdata catalogue, were covered during the practical sessions.

Underlying the key role of CBS in terms of disseminating data to the widest public, Mr. Dilli Raj Joshi, Deputy Director General of CBS expressed appreciation for the support provided by FAO for the microdata catalogue upgrade, the training on the SDC and the catalogue maintenance in his closing remark on the last day. He also assured further co-operation and support to FAO from the Central Bureau of Statistics.