International organisation, office working on agricultural census

THE Food and Agriculture Organisation(FAO) in PNG is working with the Department of Agriculture and Livestock and the National Statistics Office (NSO) to develop an agriculture census framework.
FAO country representative Ken Shimizu revealed this during the country consultation workshop yesterday in the lead-up to the Asia-Pacific regional conference this year in Bhutan.
Department officials had suggested that the census become one of the FAO’s major activities.
“Agriculture is important for PNG and we have initiated some work with the NSO and DAL to strengthen the agriculture statistics for the country,” he said.
“We are trying to come up with framework.
“We may be doing a piloted survey or trial in preparation for a census because it requires a lot of resources and work.
“We can start by trailing something on a smaller scale, (especially) in Sepik and Mamose where we have a lot of presence and resources.”
According to officials, the last agriculture census was conducted 20 years ago and the data was now out of date.
The census will show how many people are involved in agriculture around the country.
It will also identify the types of agricultural methods being practised, and whether for commerce or consumption.
The FAO is also working on an initiative to conduct ta imber traceability study.