The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) in partnership with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) has launched a national survey to assess the impact of the Phase Two of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ 2.0).
The overall objective of the exercise is to produce reliable and up-to-date benchmark information on the agricultural sector, bridge data gaps, promote evidence-based decision-making and conduct an indepth impact assessment of PFJ 2.0.
The launch was also used to officially close the two-week training programme for the field officers of the programme.
Speaking at the launch of the programme and the official closing of the training of the field officers for the programme here on Saturday, the Acting Government Statistician in charge of Economy and Data Science, Mr Asuo Afram, in remarks made on behalf of the Government Statistician, Professor Samuel K.Annim, said the survey was to generate data to inform policy making.
“The COREPME survey will generate detailed estimates of crop, vegetable and livestock production by type and region. It will also assess fish and aquaculture productivity by type and location, along with data on the consumption and sale of bush, forestry products and utility poles,” the Government Statistician stated.
Dubbed the Ghana Core Agriculture and Production Methods and Environment (COREPME) survey for the baseline assessment of the PFJ 2.0, the COREPME forms part of the Ghana Core Agriculture Survey (GCAS++), it was to estimate the proportion of agricultural area under production and sustainable agriculture.
He said the programme would be carried out in all the 261 administrative regions of the country.
Prof. Annim said about 220 trained field officers will collect data from agricultural households and institutions across selected Enumeration Areas nationwide from February 3, 2025 and end on March 20, 2025.
He said the survey would produce official statistics covering the whole agricultural sector (household and non-household/corporate farms), assessment of the impact of agricultural activities on the environmental, social and economic sustainability of farming.
He added that the survey would help to generate data on food production statistics, the people engaged in agriculture and their ages, as well as the challenges they face.
Prof. Annim urged the field officers to comport themselves as, electronic monitoring dashboard system had been deployed to monitor the field officers.
The Project Coordinator of the COREPME, Dr Bernice Serwah Ofosu Baadu, said the field officers had been taken through two weeks intensive training on the concept of the questionnaire for the survey.
The Assistant Chief Statistician in charge of Programme Monitoring and Evaluation, Dr Kobina Abaka Ansah, who spoke on the benefits of the COREPME, said the selected households for the survey were done because they were engaged in agriculture.
He said the programme was not a political exercise but meant to gather agriculture data to promote policy planning and decision making.
FROM KINGSLEY ASARE, WINNEBA
