ACCRA – Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Saturday launched the census of agriculture to gather reliable data to inform national policy interventions in the development of agriculture in the country.

The Census of Agriculture is a nationwide statistical operation that covers the country and allows for the collection, processing, publishing and dissemination of information on the structure of agriculture in Ghana and the potentials and constraints for development in commodities.c

It is a collaborative effort between the Ghana Statistical Service and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, with technical support from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Data from the census which covers crops, livestock, forestry and fisheries, post-harvest losses, household food security and irrigation and water management will also help in monitoring Ghana’s progress under various agriculture development policies.

Akufo-Addo assured Ghanaians of the government’s full commitment to the completion of the 2018 census to improve on the national agricultural statistics system.

He said the census must become a regular feature of Ghana’s national life, adding that the country ignores agriculture at its own risk as agriculture remains the fuel that powers Ghana’s activity.

"My government will certainly not ignore it. We need to raise agriculture to a higher plane to be able to improve on the quality of life for our people,” Akufo-Addo said.

Ghana last held a census of agriculture some 33 years ago and hopes that the 2018 data collection would be the beginning of a new cycle of 10 year censuses as it used to have.

Xinhua