Statistics Botswana prepares for Agricultural Census
Statistics Botswana will start collecting data from January 2025 to December for the 2025 Agricultural Census while dissemination of the main results will be done in September 2026
Statistician General at Statistics Botswana, Dr Burton Mguni explained that agricultural censuses are conducted every 10 years primarily to establish new baseline data and provide a new framework for subsequent annual surveys.
“This is because agricultural censuses are based on a larger sample size and scope than surveys.” He noted that Government has always relied on agricultural censuses and annual agricultural sample surveys of crops and livestock to produce agricultural statistics to inform policy and decision-making.
In a space of weeks, they will also be kick-starting the Information and Communication Technology Survey of 2024. “Field workers training will start in May and data collection will then follow from June to August 2024,” he said, adding that the 2024 ICT Household Survey will be conducted in all districts, urban and rural Botswana from the sampled households but coordinated at Statistics Botswana headquarters in Gaborone. “The main objective of the survey is to produce indicators to support the monitoring and evaluation of national, regional and international ICTrelated development goals and targets, for example,
Vision 2036, Africa Agenda 2063, and the SDGs,” he said.
One of their most notable achievements in the past year was the release of the Fifth Botswana AIDS Impact Survey, BAIS V, which was led by the Government through the National AIDS and Health Promotion Agency (NAHPA) and Botswana Ministry of Health (MOH). The survey was conducted as a Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (PHIA) with funding from the US PEPFAR and technical assistance through the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) implemented the survey in collaboration with Botswana institutions, including the NAHPA, MOH, Statistics
Botswana, the Botswana National Laboratory, referral hospitals, and local government authorities.
Dr Mguni said that early this year, they have also released the Quarter 3, 2023 Quarterly Multi Topic Survey (QMTS) which provided updated labour force indicators such as employment and unemployment rates. “We have now just completed data collection for Quarterly Multi Topic Survey (QMTS) Quarter 1, 2024. The survey report which will provide Labour Force Indicators is expected to be released at the end of May 2024,” he said.
They also conducted Population and Housing Census in 2022 and anticipate to hold a dissemination conference mid-year to officially release the full census results.