A census of agriculture is a statistical operation for collecting, processing and disseminating
data on the structure of agriculture, covering the whole or a significant part of the country. Typical
structural data collected in a census of agriculture are size of holding, land tenure, land use, crop area
harvested, irrigation, livestock numbers, labour and other agricultural inputs. In an agricultural
census, data are collected directly from agricultural holdings, but some community-level data may
also be collected. A census of agriculture normally involves collecting key structural data by
complete enumeration of all agricultural holdings, in combination with more detailed structural data
using sampling methods [FAO, 2005].
The agricultural census data is useful for a variety of economic and social fields including
monitoring progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, and in analyzing poverty, food
security and gender issues. Other uses of agricultural census data include planning and policymaking
and improving current agricultural statistics.
The main objectives of the census of agriculture are: (a) To provide data on the structure of
agriculture, especially for small administrative units, and to enable detailed cross-tabulations; (b) To
provide data to use as benchmarks for current agricultural statistics; (c) To provide frames for
agricultural sample surveys; (d) To provide data to help monitor progress towards global
development targets, in particular the MDGs [FAO, 2005].