2020 CENSUS TO USE ELECTRONIC DATA COLLECTION

THE

2020 national population and housing census will be conducted using electronic data collection to enable quality collection and timely transmission of data, Zambia Statistics Agency (ZSA) population expert Bruce Sinyauka has said.

Mr Sinyauka said preparations were underway to ensure a successful exercise, adding that Zambia was so far the sixth country in history to exercise its census using the electronic exercise.

This, he said, was a pilot census with regards receiving and transmission of data using electronic process.

He said the process would be the first of its kind in Zambia to be conducted using electronic data collection methodology, computer assisted personal interviewing (CAPI), to improve the quality of data collected and reduce the time framework between the collection of data and sending of the census results.

“All the materials are already in place to ensure we have a successful exercise and we are working with various stakeholders such as the media to ensure information is disseminated to the public,” he said.

Mr Sinyauka said so far, the mapping exercise, mobilisation of resources had commenced throughout the country to ascertain the boundaries as part of the preparation towards the exercise.

He said the mapping exercise was a vital component in the pre-census stage as the enumeration areas created in the sampling frame had to be uniform in size to ensure accurate censuses and survey.

He said there had been accelerated efforts towards the exercise, adding it was the responsibility of every Zambia to ensure they participated and be counted.

Zambia’s population is projected to be standing at about 17million as at 2019, from the 13 million population of 2010 when the last census was conducted.

The census is August 16, 2020. slated for

According to the Zambia Statistical Agency monthly bulleting of 2019, the government would deploy over 2, 000 map data collectors during the mapping exercise.

The agency is conducting another kind of census, the mapping and listing in line with principles of any national census of population and housing, failing to carry out a mapping exercise, which might result in an inaccurate geographic frame that could lead to inaccurate data collection and analysis of census and survey results.