PHNOM PENH, JULY 2018: In the context of rapid development, Cambodia needs more and better quality statistical data in agriculture and the rural sector and these data are required much faster. Timely and reliable statistics are vital for development of responsive policies and progressive agricultural programmes. Access to reliable data and information is also critical for the functionality of investment and market operations. At the same time, with such rapid economic development, Cambodia faces more and more challenges to keep up with growing demands and to ensure the effective use of natural resources especially, in an environmental friendly manner.

In this respect, the Cambodia Inter-Censal Agricultural Survey is scheduled for 2019, under the leadership of the National Institute of Statistics (NIS) of the Ministry of Planning, in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).  

The survey will employ a methodology of the Agriculture Integrated Survey (AGRISurvey) developed by FAO with funding from USAID and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Cambodia is the first country in the region to implement the AGRISurvey Project, starting with the Inter-Censal Survey of Agriculture Survey in 2019 and continuing on an annual basis thereafter as an Annual Survey of Agriculture.  This will mean that Cambodia will have access to a regular flow of agricultural statistics and a strong basis for improving policy and decision making in the sector. 

The AGRIS Project in Cambodia is funded by USAID and will complement investments by the Royal Government of Cambodia, FAO Cambodia and contributions from other development partners. This is a groundbreaking step for the improvement of agricultural statistics in Cambodia.

Following preliminary discussions and agreement with the Royal Government of Cambodia, a consultative workshop was organized in Phnom Penh on the eleventh of July 2018, chaired by HE Rin Virak, Secretary of State, Ministry of Planning, with support from HE Ty Sokun, Secretary of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and HE Hang Lina, Delegate of the Royal Government and Director General, NIS. The workshop gathered key state and non-state stakeholders in the agriculture sector to formalize the institutional arrangements under which the survey will be conducted.  In addition, the meeting allowed for discussions of the broad areas to be included in the survey and gathered inputs to the survey planning.  An on-going and thorough process of consultation will ensure that the survey data will be most effective for policy design, programme planning and implementation, as well as for improving market efficiency.

In 2013, Cambodia conducted the first ever agricultural census, depicting a comprehensive state of agriculture in Cambodia (https://bit.ly/2NlO3lm), but some gaps remain. The Inter-Censal Agriculture Survey 2019 will collect up-to-date information on economic, environmental and social dimensions of agricultural holdings. Specifically, data on crop cultivation, livestock, and fisheries will be available for national and local policy planning.  Fisheries were not adequately addressed in the 2013 survey, but there is a strong interest and commitment to include more comprehensive coverage of fisheries in this upcoming survey.  Efforts are also ongoing to harmonize data collection activities concerning fisheries. 

In delivering his remarks at the event, HE Ty Sokun pointed out that in 2017, the  agricultural sub-sectors including cash crops, animal production, fisheries, and forestry contributed substantially to the Cambodia GDP. Notably, cash crops and fisheries are the leading agricultural sub-sectors, but animal production is another sector with great potential to supply domestic and export demand. “MAFF needs annual data collected and produced by NIS. The information gathered will be extremely valuable for the analysis of policies, programmes and investment,” added H.E Ty Sokun.  His comments echoed those of HE Rin Virak, who stated that “timely and reliable data for agriculture, forestry, and fisheries for agricultural related policy, monitoring and evaluation will contribute to achieving the second goal of the SDGs –zero hunger,” adding that “ information generation is a primary obligation of NIS, MAFF and other development partners.”

FAO Cambodia Representative, Mr Alexandre Huynh, stated that “this initiative is very appropriate to address the gaps in agricultural statistics. The annual survey is designed to inform policy makers and will serve to further the development of the sector, the adjustment of programmes for sustainable agriculture, improved food security and livelihoods of small-holder farmers, and for poverty reduction.”

Without AGRISurvey, existing data gaps can only be filled by ad-hoc and suboptimal mechanisms for data collection with high transaction costs. This further increases the burden on people, agricultural holdings and data systems, and does not provide for the timely and reliable data required by users. Ultimately, this lack of data limits the evaluation of policy and strategic frameworks and constitutes an obstacle to the accountability and transparency required for functioning markets. The information collected will contribute to the planning process for the Agricultural sector Master Plan 2030, the Agriculture Strategic Development Plan 2019-2023 and to monitoring of progress towards the achievement of the Cambodia SDGs. The AGRISurvey methodology will provide essential and direct information for the following five SDG indicators: 2.3.1 / 2.3.2 / 2.4.1 / 5.4.1 / 5.1.a (learn more at https://bit.ly/2sFcTTy). Moreover, synergies have been identified with the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) funded project on “Strengthening capacity in the agriculture and land-use sectors for enhanced transparency in implementation and monitoring of Cambodia’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).”

Check out the Census of Agriculture in Cambodia 2013 (CAC) at https://bit.ly/2Nm5YbC

For more information, please contact:

Dr. Iean Russell, Senior Policy Officer

E-mail: [email protected]