By ‘Majirata Latela
Lesotho will from 7_ 14 March, 2021 undertake the 2019/20 Lesotho agricultural census in all districts of the country to assist in filling data gaps for monitoring and evaluating development to address the challenge of food security.
The ministry of development, planning through the Bureau of Statistics, along with the Food and Agriculture Organisation Lesotho will undertake this study to collect data for evidence-based planning and policy-making processes, as well as monitoring and evaluation of agricultural programmes and projects.
“In addition the census is important in providing information on agricultural holdings with a focus to small administrative to provide benchmark to improve current crops and livestock statistics as well as provide coupling frameworks for follow-up agricultural sample surveys,” a development planning ministry statement says.
The ministry also indicates that the census will provide data for accessing food security, agricultural planning and policy formulation, agricultural inputs and main work activities as well as on the labour force in the agriculture sector and the likes.
In addition, the census will also cover activities on agricultural households and commercial farms under different systems of land tenure in the administrative units and also provide benchmarks to improve current crops and livestock statistics.
Agricultural censuses have been conducted determinably by the world since 1930. Lesotho started undertaking the decennial agricultural census since 1949/50. The last census was done in 2009/10 by government together with FAO.
