MANAGING AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE NSDS THE EXPERIENCE OF UGANDA

1. MANAGING AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE NSDSTHE EXPERIENCE OF UGANDA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR UGANDA BUREAU OF STATISTICS ISI Satellite Meeting Maputo, August 2008

2. OUTLINE • Introduction • Status of Agricultural Statistics in Uganda • Efforts to mitigate the situation • Institutional arrangements • The NSDS and the Agricultural Sector • Conclusions

3. Introduction • Agriculture is the most dominant sector in Uganda’s economy – currently it contributes about 21% of GDP and employs more than 80% of the population. • Agricultural Statistics in Uganda covers crops, livestock and fisheries – hence the Ministry responsible is called “Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries” • Other players include parastatal bodies for major cash crops (coffee, cotton, tea)

4. Status of Agricultural Statistics in Uganda • The Agricultural Statistical System and infrastructure have never been fully developed in Uganda though a good start had been made in the 1950s and 1960s under the Agricultural Reporting Service of the Ministry responsible for agriculture. • The last published agricultural census results were those for 1963-65 • Agricultural Reporting Service of the Ministry of Agriculture then, collapsed with the decentralization policy that devolved administrative, planning and monitoring functions from the centre to the districts • Before development of the Integrated Framework for Agricultural Statistics in Uganda in 2000, there was no comprehensive national work program on agricultural statistics • Poorly coordinated efforts in agricultural statistics production resulted in low quality and inconsistent products that did not meet user needs

5. Efforts to mitigate the situation… • The NSO became an important source of agricultural statistics from its National Household Survey rounds of 1995/96, 1999/2000 and 2005/06 • The 2002 Population and Housing Census carried an agricultural module to facilitate creation of a sampling frame for subsequent agricultural surveys • The agricultural modules will continue to be accommodated in the Long Term Household Survey program of the NSO (2007-2017)

6. Efforts to mitigate the situation • The Livestock census was conducted in 2008 by the Ministry of Agriculture with technical support from the National Statistical Office – Joint supervision done • Uganda is currently undertaking a census of agriculture (Sept 08-Sept. 09) – Spearheaded by the National Statistical Office in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture – The exercise is jointly supervised

7. Census of Agriculture in pictures The Speaker of Parliament of the Republic of Uganda Unveils the Census 2008 logo in November 2008

8. Institutional arrangements to support Agricultural statistics • The Integrated Framework for Agricultural Statistics in Uganda (2000) could be viewed as the first Agricultural Sector Strategic Plan for Statistics. • An important feature of the Framework implementation arrangements was the proposed formation of a National Agricultural Statistics Coordination Committee (NASCC) and the National Agricultural Statistics Technical Committee (NASTC). • Both Committees (NASCC & NASTC) drew membership from a cross section of data producers and users, policy makers and implementers in the agricultural sector.

9. Operationalization of NASCC and NASTC • While the two committees were well-intended and TORs carefully developed, only the NASTC has been fully operationalized • NASTC has contributed to reviews and approval of workplans for agricultural censuses and surveys • Provided technical guidance on sampling design and quality control • Facilitated sharing of good practices in development of agricultural statistics

10. Integrating agricultural statistics into the National Statistical System - the NSDS framework • A sectoral approach was used in the design of the NSDS. This involved dialogue with stakeholders in the agricultural sector • Agricultural Statistics cannot be developed in isolation, it must be part of the national strategy for developing statistics in all the sectors • In Uganda, under the NSDS a detailed process of consultations led to development of a vision for the entire National Statistical System • The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries was among the pioneer Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) under Uganda’s NSDS

11. The process of designing an agricultural strategic plan for statistics in the context of NSDS… • Selection of contact persons • Contact persons selected were statisticians from the Agricultural Planning Unit • All planning unit staff of the ministry of agriculture were sensitized as a starting point • Identification and use of Champions • The Commissioner Agricultural Planning was the Champion for statistics in the ministry. The Commissioner also doubled as the chairperson to the NASTC • The Champion was the main change agent in the Ministry of Agriculture

12. The process of designing an agricultural strategic plan for statistics in the context of NSDS • Creation of a Committee for Statistics • Each department of the ministry was represented on the committee – Crop husbandry, Livestock & Fisheries • The Committee was used to monitor statistical developments within the Ministry and other sister institutions • The Committee was a starting point for inter-departmental harmonization • Creating Training opportunities • NSO mobilized resources to support training in Statistical Analysis, sampling, M&E, etc • Some trainings were done together for NSO staff and MDAs’ staff • This created some form of common ground for developing statistics in both the NSO and the MDAs.

13. Managing with the right Information • Assessments were made in the agricultural sector • To establish the status quo – level of statistical development • SWOT analysis • Strategies for statistical development were based on the situational analysis and the SWOT analysis • The Agricultural Sector Strategic Plan for Statistics (SSPS) • The SSPS for the Agricultural sector is a strategy that indicates the actions necessary for developing statistics in the sector. Any support for statistics in the sector must be based on the SSPS • The SSPS was developed in a consultative manner with all the key stakeholders in the sector and with support from the NSO • The SSPS is one of the building blocks for the NSDS

14. International NetworkingTapping and sharing experiences A team from Malawi NSO on an NSDS study tour at UBOS

15. Highlights of the assessment of the Agricultural sector under the NSDS Analysis of the sector indicated that there are: • Many data gaps • Limited coordination between producers and users; particularly between the ministry and parastatal bodies attached to the ministry • No budget lines for statistics in the ministry • Inadequate staffing levels in the statistics unit

16. Strategies for developing statisticsunder the NSDS.. • Coordination and management • Increase coordination between data producers and users • Scaling up the statistics unit in the MDA responsible for agricultural statistics • Streamline data flow channels between the center and local governments • Carry out periodic data needs assessments in the sector • Sensitize local governments on the importance of an Early Warning System informed by statistics

17. Strategies for developing statisticsunder the NSDS.. • Human Resource Development and management • Train staff in data management and statistical analysis • Develop the capacity of individual farmers to keep records of their farming operations • Develop the capacity of local governments to generate accurate statistics with support from the National Statistical Office

18. Strategies for developing statisticsunder the NSDS • Statistical Infrastructure • Develop a Master Sampling Frame • Develop standard reporting formats for all field staff • Create an information system for the agricultural sector

19. Conclusions… • Agricultural statistics is generally poor in Uganda • In the absence of regular Agricultural censuses, National Household surveys have provided a stop gap • Inter-sectoral committee on agricultural statistics has worked but it has its own challenges • The solution to managing agricultural statistics lies in the development of the NSDS

20. Conclusions • The National Statistical Office in Uganda has supported the Ministry responsible for Agricultural statistics to develop an Agricultural Sector Strategic Plan for Statistics • The Agricultural Sector Strategic Plan for Statistics is a good management mechanism of agricultural statistics • Agricultural statistics cannot be developed in isolation. The Agricultural Sector Strategic Plan for Statistics is one of the building blocks for the NSDS

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