Capacity building training on statistical data processing and analysis in Lesotho

In Lesotho, the first two TOOLS modules were implemented through intense training from March 6th to 14th of 2023 aimed at providing adequate skills for data processing and analysis with statistical software (SPSS was chosen by the country), focusing particularly on the production of descriptive statistics, cleaning and imputation of agricultural survey data.

The training, led by Mr. Jean Stephane N’zi , a statistician, was addressed to the technical staff in charge of data processing of agricultural statistics. Ten participants out of twelve were from the Bureau of Statistics (BOS) of Lesotho, the remaining two participants were from the Disaster Management Authority and Ministry of Agriculture & Food Security Nutrition. In total, 8 women (66%) out of 12 participants attended the training.

The workshop included a presentation of notions about SPSS programming, data processing, statistical theory, and case studies which were based on data collected during the pilot exercise of the GSARS FARMECO package or Agricultural Production Survey (APS) 2022. At the end of the training, the participants were able to explore, analyze, partially clean, and impute agricultural survey data.

The trainees expressed their satisfaction with the workshop, which gave them confidence in the proficient use of SPSS and statistically advanced data-cleaning and data-imputation practices. They confirmed that they have acquired relevant skills that would help them to get a significant improvement in the quality of the statistical data produced, empowering the statistical capacity of the national statistical institutions.