21 August 2008
Maputo — The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has granted 379,000 US dollars for the second agricultural and livestock census in Mozambique (CAP II), to be conducted in an 18 month period between 2009 and 2010, reports Thursday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias".
To that end, an agreement was signed on Wednesday between the FAO representative in Mozambique and Swaziland, Maria Zimmermann, and Joao Loureiro, president of the Mozambican National Statistics Institute (INE).
This money is to be used to create all the necessary technical conditions to carry out the census and make sure that it produces relevant and reliable data and on time.
Speaking after the signing of the document, the two explained that, besides creating technical conditions, FAO assistance includes also strengthening INE capacity, defining and testing all the technical, administrative and legal instruments to be used in the census, and developing appropriate methodologies.
Zimmermann said that, because agriculture is the major activity for about 70 per cent of the Mozambican population, there is a need to support its development in order to fight against hunger and absolute poverty.
For his part, Loureiro pointed out that the census is important because it will produce information that will help the government plan the national economy.
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