The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is providing technical assistance to the Government of Zimbabwe in developing a National Agricultural and Livestock Census (NALC) Plan of Action. FAO is also supporting the Government to compile and update its national food balance sheet (FBS) while developing an agricultural and livestock census project document to allow for the Government to start mobilizing the required resources to undertake the census of agriculture.

This collaboration is part of FAO’s broader efforts to support Zimbabwe in strengthening its agricultural data systems and ensuring food security for its population. For the next two weeks, senior statisticians and economists from key strategic sectors are gathered in Harare to discuss and document data needs, methodological considerations, overall planning and the required resources for undertaking the agricultural and livestock census in a project document as per the FAO World Programme for the Census of Agriculture (WCA 2020).

At the same time, the Government professionals are updating data on food availability for human consumption in terms calories, fats, minerals, proteins, vitamins and other micro and macro nutrients per capita per day to support food security and nutrition policies.

“The National Agricultural and Livestock Census project document is a key step towards implementation the census of agriculture as one of the main statistical outputs of Zimbabwe Strategic Plan for Agricultural and Rural Statistics (2025-2029), and Zimbabwe National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (2022 – 2026),” said Dominique Habimana, FAO Regional Statistician for Africa.

“The upcoming NALC will give the snapshot of the current situation of agricultural sector and serve as the baseline on different agricultural subsectors with complete enumeration. The NALC will also allow for creating for the first time a solid sampling frame for subsequent agricultural surveys,” added Habimana.  

Given that Zimbabwe has never conducted an agricultural census since its independence, leading to the absence of updated structural data and sampling frames for robust design and implementation of sample surveys, and limited statistical capacity, FAO has mobilized resources to design and implement the Technical Cooperation Project (TCP) upon the Government request to provide the required technical assistance. Therefore, the development of NALC project document and update of the national food balance sheet are some of the activities of the TCP that have been discussed and agreed upon with the Government.

“The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) prioritizes the production of high-quality agricultural statistics to facilitate informed decision-making and effective policy formulation within the agriculture sector. The development of the National Agriculture Census project document highlights FAO’s strong commitment to supporting the Government of Zimbabwe in addressing existing food security and agricultural production challenges. This is enabled by providing statistical data that fill the existing agricultural data gaps," said Matiwonesa Phiri, Director - Production Statistics Division, ZIMSTAT.

"The project document not only serves as a framework to guide the planning and execution of the Agriculture Census but is also a resource mobilization tool to enable ZIMSTAT get the necessary support and resources for its successful implementation,” added Phiri.  

The draft NALC project document will be presented and validated by key stakeholders from both the Government and donor community on 30 January 2025, as an important tool for resource mobilization to be used by both the Government and its development partners. The implementation of NALC will follow once the required resources become available.