The United States (US) government has donated some Agricultural
Integrated Surveys (AGRIS) tools as part of its recently signed Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) to pilot data collections in four developing countries,
reports NaijaAgroNet.
The donation received by the Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO) on behalf of benefiting countries to be named soon, NaijaAgroNet gathered, was made through the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID).
The goal, NaijaAgroNet also gathered is to design and implement a new and cost-effective approach to agricultural data collection in developing world contexts, known as agricultural integrated surveys (AGRIS).
The AGRIS methodology will not only capture improved annual data on agricultural production, but also broader and more detailed structural information relating to farms, including employment, machinery use, production costs, farming practices, and environmental impacts.
This will incorporate recent innovations like remote sensing, Global Positioning System (GPS), mobile technology and various uses of "big data." These tools will introduce more objective approaches to measuring agricultural performance, in some cases replacing traditional, more expensive methods.
In addition to better and more detailed data, NaijaAgroNet reports that AGRIS will also promote the integration of disparate data sources, improve data timeliness and usability, and cut data collection costs.
The end result will be high-quality data on a wide range of technical, economic, environmental and social dimensions of agriculture that will help governments analyse and understand the impacts of agricultural policies, assess progress toward the SDGs and other goals, and shape better policies.
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
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