Ashanti Region inaugurates census team

A three-member Management Team to oversee the smooth implementation of the impending agriculture census has been inaugurated in Kumasi.

Mr Kofi Dwomoh Asubonteng, Chief Director of Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council chairs the team with Mr Emmanuel George Ossei, Regional Statistician as Secretary and Mr Kwaku Minka Fordjour, Regional Director of Agriculture, member.

They will, among other things, deal with all problems of the census operations, facilitate information sharing and dissemination of results at the end of the project.

The inauguration coincided with a User-Producer workshop attended by more than 40 participants from Ghana Statistical Service, Stool Lands Administration, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Information Services Department, the media, chiefs and farmers.

The workshop facilitated consultation among stakeholders on the production of essential data required to plan for the activity.

Madam Alice Sraha, Director, Human Resource Development, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, said the census would provide quality and reliable information for evidence-based decision-making in agricultural development, which had been absent for the past 30 years.

Madam Sraha, who is a member of the technical team, said the Food and Agriculture Organisation is providing support.

Dr Philomena Nyarko, Government’s Statistician, in an address read on her behalf said the objective was to provide quality data for agricultural and food security policies formulation, monitoring and evaluation.

It would also provide benchmark data and update the structural information on Ghana’s agriculture which would form the basis for annual production figures estimation.