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With a view to boosting food security, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) has called for the modernisation of production and the use of agricultural statistics.
This was made known in a statement made available to journalists by the communications section of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). According to the statement, UNECA hosted a celebration for Africa Statistics Day 2022 themed, “Strengthening data systems by modernising the production and use of agricultural statistics with a view of informing policies to improve resilience in agriculture, nutrition, and food security on the African Continent.”
The event was organised in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Union Commission (AUC), and the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).
Speaking, the Director of African Centre for Statistics at ECA, Oliver Chinganya, said the aim of the webinar was to “inspire our thinking on the need to strongly advocate for statistics daily”. “Especially agricultural statistics, given their critical role in shaping the farm economy as a more sustainable livelihood.”
On her part, the Minister of State in Charge of Economic Planning for the Government of Rwanda, Uwera Claudine, said improving agricultural data systems would close existing data gaps. “(This is by ensuring a reliable flow of timely data for informed approaches to advance policy dialogue and policymaking towards building resilient systems for sustainable agriculture and by extension, food security on the continent.”
Similarly, the Chief of Economics and Statistics Division at the Pan-African Institute for Statistics, Adoum Gagoloum, spoke on the critical role Africa Statistics Day played in the African agenda. “It is an opportunity for data users to get together and deliver a message to political decision-makers, civil society and the private sector.”
Speaking further, Gagoloum said there is a need to strengthen data systems to enable Africa develop its human capital, social and economic development.
In his remarks, the Acting Director for Statistics at the AfDB, Louis Kouakou, spoke of the bank’s commitment to supporting National Statistical Offices across the continent. “We are supporting African countries through the Statistical Capacity Building project which provides technical assistance on various statistical domains including agricultural statistics,” he said.
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