By Juliet ETEFE ([email protected])
The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), has launched the Ghana Core Agriculture and Production Methods and Environment (CorePME) Survey.
This initiative aims to establish a baseline assessment for phase-two of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) programme, gathering critical data to support evidence-based decision-making in the agricultural sector.
The survey, part of broader Ghana Core Agriculture Surveys (GCAS++), will also provide reliable and up-to-date information on agricultural production, farm practices and sustainability.
The data collected will aid in policymaking to enhance food security, promote sustainable farming and assess the resilience of agricultural practices to climate shocks.
Additionally, it will contribute to measuring progress on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2.4.1, which tracks the proportion of agricultural areas under productive and sustainable agriculture.
GSS noted that the data will serve multiple purposes, including benchmarking agricultural production to fill data gaps and support evidence-based policymaking; and estimating production levels of crops, vegetables, livestock, fish, aquaculture, forestry and bushmeat consumption.
Also, assessing the use of agricultural inputs such as labour, irrigation, and fertiliser; evaluating farm practices related to soil health and pollination methods; and providing data for greenhouse gas (GHG) emission calculations in agriculture.
The survey will produce official statistics on household and non-household farms to ensure high-quality agricultural data for policy development.
A total of 220 trained field officers will be deployed to conduct data collection in selected Enumeration Areas (EAs) nationwide. The fieldwork, scheduled between February 3 and March 20, 2025, will employ Computer-Assisted Personal Interviews (CAPI) to ensure efficiency and accuracy in data-gathering.
Enhancing Agricultural Policy and Sustainable Growth
Speaking at the launch in Winneba, the acting deputy government statistician for economic statistics and data science, Edward Asuo Afram, emphasised the survey’s importance in shaping Ghana’s agricultural policies.
He noted that agriculture remains a major sector in the economy, employing more people than any other industry – hence, The CorePME survey will provide the necessary data to monitor and improve sector growth.
He also reassured the public that all collected data would remain confidential and be used strictly for statistical purposes, in line with the Statistical Service Act, 2019 (Act 1003).
Credibility
To ensure authenticity and reliability of the data collected, GSS has developed an electronic monitoring dashboard – a system that will enable supervisors to track incoming data in real-time, ensuring field officers provide accurate information.
Additionally, field officers will be identifiable by official GSS shirts and ID cards. Mr. Afram urged the public to verify enumerators’ identity before providing information and cooperate with them to ensure a successful data collection process.
Project coordinator Dr. Bernice Serwah Ofosu-Baadu also reiterated the survey’s significance in tracking progress and ensuring sustainability for agricultural initiatives.
“This survey is not just about data collection – it is also about empowering policymakers with accurate, timely and reliable statistics to drive informed decision-making,” Dr. Ofosu-Baadu said.
She urged field officers to uphold high standards of professionalism and integrity in their work, as the quality of data collected will determine the survey’s success.
The CorePME survey aligns with Ghana’s Medium-Term Development Framework and supports 12 of the 17 SDGs. It will also provide statistical backing for the Malabo Commitments under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), aimed at ending hunger and eradicating poverty through agriculture.
