NaijaAgroNet:
A new age of data
collection in the agriculture sector may have taken root with the recent
agreement between the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO) to the tune of $15 million Memorandum of Understanding (MoU),
reports NaijaAgroNet.
According to the FAO Chief Statistician, Pietro Gennari, from the two organisations,
the need for better, cost-effective and timely statistical data for
agricultural and rural areas is widely recognized.
Critical gaps in data
production and dissemination persist in several countries - a consequence of
long-standing issues such as shortages of financial and human resources, and
the resulting limitations in technical capacities.
FAO, Gennari noted has already been addressing such issues through the"
Global Strategy to improve agricultural and rural statistics" (GSARS) programme, an umbrella
effort working to enhance the capacity of developing countries to produce
and use agricultural and rural statistics and to strengthen statistical
governance mechanisms. AGRIS is a spin-off of the Global Strategy's research programme.
"With efforts like our Global Strategy and ‘next generation' tools like
AGRIS, we're engaging with partners to spark what we hope will be a new era in
agricultural data collection," Gennari said.
AGRIS, NaijaAgroNet, is being implemented by FAO within the context of the
multi-agency Global Rural and Agricultural Integrated Surveys (GRAInS)
Partnership, which is currently establishing in Rome as a Global Survey Hub.
Nenye Dom/GEE
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