Agricultural Census 2001
Tonga, 2001
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Statistics Department
Identification
IDNO
TON_2001_AgC_v01_M
Title
Agricultural Census 2001
Country
| Name | Country code |
|---|---|
| Tonga | TON |
Abstract
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) was entrusted with the responsibility to lead the implementation of the agricultural census project with the assistance of the Statistics Department (SD). The Census was conducted under the National Statistics Act 1978 which provides for obligation of the citizens to provide information, confidentiality of information provided and the duties of the census staff. A National Agriculture Census Committee was constituted to guide and supervise the entire census exercise. Technical and financial assistance for undertaking the census was provided by the FAO of the UN.
The undertaking of the AC 2001 was envisioned to:
1. provide benchmark or basic data on the structure of agricultural holdings and their main characteristics;
2. use this information to develop a regular system of agricultural statistics;
3. build up some important village and regional level statistics;
4. establish a technical and organizational foundation on which to build up a comprehensive and integrated system of food and agricultural statistics; and
5. provide a frame from which samples can be drawn to study certain aspects of agricultural activities in greater depth.
The undertaking of the AC 2001 was envisioned to:
1. provide benchmark or basic data on the structure of agricultural holdings and their main characteristics;
2. use this information to develop a regular system of agricultural statistics;
3. build up some important village and regional level statistics;
4. establish a technical and organizational foundation on which to build up a comprehensive and integrated system of food and agricultural statistics; and
5. provide a frame from which samples can be drawn to study certain aspects of agricultural activities in greater depth.
Kind of Data
Census/enumeration data [cen]
Coverage
Geographic Coverage
National
Unit of Analysis
- Household
- Agricultural Holding
- Agricultural Holding
Universe
The Agricultural Census 2001 was conducted at the household level and a complete enumeration of all households residing in Tonga during the period of the census enumeration. However, households that left for abroad and came back after the period of the census taking and those that were permanently living in other countries were no longer included.
Producers and sponsors
Authoring entity/Primary investigators
| Agency Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry | Government of Tonga |
| Statistics Department | Government of Tonga |
Producers
| Name | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Food and Agriculture Organization | United Nations | Technical support |
Funding Agency/Sponsor
| Name | Abbreviation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Government of Tonga | GovTON | Funding the study |
| Food and Agriculture Organization | FAO | Financial support |
Data Collection
Dates of Data Collection (YYYY/MM/DD)
| Start date | End date |
|---|---|
| 2001-10-03 | 2001-12-15 |
Mode of data collection
Face-to-face [f2f]
Type of Research Instrument
Considerable time was spent in designing the census questionnaires. The census questionnaires were in three forms, namely,
AC Form 1 – Household Questionnaire,
AC Form 2 – Holding Questionnaire and
AC Form 3 – Parcel Questionnaire.
The draft questionnaires were presented first to the Working Committee then to the User–Producer Consultation Meeting which was held on September 24, 2001. Afterwards these were tested in the field from August 27-31, 2001. From the results of the field test, the census questionnaires were finalized for printing.
AC Form 1 – Household Questionnaire,
AC Form 2 – Holding Questionnaire and
AC Form 3 – Parcel Questionnaire.
The draft questionnaires were presented first to the Working Committee then to the User–Producer Consultation Meeting which was held on September 24, 2001. Afterwards these were tested in the field from August 27-31, 2001. From the results of the field test, the census questionnaires were finalized for printing.
Data Appraisal
Data Appraisal
Data Limitation
The AC 2001, as stated in one of its objectives, provides basic information on the structure of agricultural holdings in the Kingdom and its characteristics that do not change over a certain period of time. Like any other census and surveys, it has limitations which are enumerated in the following:
1. No data on crop production was included in this census since this information would be better asked in a follow up survey specifically designed for major crops.
2. The level of agricultural activity of a household was determined only through its involvement in the cultivation/growing of crops and size of its agricultural land which should be more than 1/8 of an acre. A household having only livestock or poultry was not considered to have an agricultural holding for this census.
3. The size of the agricultural holding, to be considered as an agricultural holder, was more than 1/8 of an acre.
4. The economic characteristics of the household members were asked for member 15 years old and over as recommended and being done internationally and in other local surveys.
5. Apart from Livestock animals, only information on dogs was included in the Livestock Section of this census. Other domesticated animals such as cats and birds like parrots were excluded.
6. Fisheries Section was asked for only few data items such as main purpose of fishing, type of fishing method engaged in, use of fishing boats and proportion of fish/other sea products sold.
7. The holding and parcels included only those agricultural lands cultivated by the holder whether owned or leased from other households. On the other hand, all lands owned by the holder but rented out to other households whether for a fee or for free were excluded in the Holding Questionnaire and Parcel Questionnaire.
8. Sections on Agricultural Income and Loan, Agro-Forestry on the Holding and Handicraft Making were asked only for agriculturally active households. The nonagricultural and minor agricultural households did not have such information.
9. Questions on the use of fertilizers were answerable only by “Yes” or “No” and questions on agricultural chemicals were the name of chemical and crops it was used on. Quantities on these agricultural inputs were not taken for it is best to include these items in a follow-up survey.
10. Small implements such as knife, spade and other gardening tools were not included in this census since it is assumed that almost all agriculturally active households owned and used such small tools.
11. The section on Agro-forestry was limited to the name of the trees/shrubs and its uses, not on the number of trees for this would create problems on data processing. Hence, a follow-up survey using this information as a frame can be done to get additional information on agro-forestry.
12. The section on Crops Planted and Already Harvested of the Parcel Questionnaire was supposed to be answered by all agricultural holders who answered the section on Parcel Details of the Holding Questionnaire. However, due to memory recall of the respondents, information on this section might have been under reported.
13. The quality of the data collected can be affected by many factors. For example, the complete enumeration and coverage limits the completeness of data, the concepts and interpretation of questionnaires may not be fully understood by enumerators, inadequate supervision and others.
The AC 2001, as stated in one of its objectives, provides basic information on the structure of agricultural holdings in the Kingdom and its characteristics that do not change over a certain period of time. Like any other census and surveys, it has limitations which are enumerated in the following:
1. No data on crop production was included in this census since this information would be better asked in a follow up survey specifically designed for major crops.
2. The level of agricultural activity of a household was determined only through its involvement in the cultivation/growing of crops and size of its agricultural land which should be more than 1/8 of an acre. A household having only livestock or poultry was not considered to have an agricultural holding for this census.
3. The size of the agricultural holding, to be considered as an agricultural holder, was more than 1/8 of an acre.
4. The economic characteristics of the household members were asked for member 15 years old and over as recommended and being done internationally and in other local surveys.
5. Apart from Livestock animals, only information on dogs was included in the Livestock Section of this census. Other domesticated animals such as cats and birds like parrots were excluded.
6. Fisheries Section was asked for only few data items such as main purpose of fishing, type of fishing method engaged in, use of fishing boats and proportion of fish/other sea products sold.
7. The holding and parcels included only those agricultural lands cultivated by the holder whether owned or leased from other households. On the other hand, all lands owned by the holder but rented out to other households whether for a fee or for free were excluded in the Holding Questionnaire and Parcel Questionnaire.
8. Sections on Agricultural Income and Loan, Agro-Forestry on the Holding and Handicraft Making were asked only for agriculturally active households. The nonagricultural and minor agricultural households did not have such information.
9. Questions on the use of fertilizers were answerable only by “Yes” or “No” and questions on agricultural chemicals were the name of chemical and crops it was used on. Quantities on these agricultural inputs were not taken for it is best to include these items in a follow-up survey.
10. Small implements such as knife, spade and other gardening tools were not included in this census since it is assumed that almost all agriculturally active households owned and used such small tools.
11. The section on Agro-forestry was limited to the name of the trees/shrubs and its uses, not on the number of trees for this would create problems on data processing. Hence, a follow-up survey using this information as a frame can be done to get additional information on agro-forestry.
12. The section on Crops Planted and Already Harvested of the Parcel Questionnaire was supposed to be answered by all agricultural holders who answered the section on Parcel Details of the Holding Questionnaire. However, due to memory recall of the respondents, information on this section might have been under reported.
13. The quality of the data collected can be affected by many factors. For example, the complete enumeration and coverage limits the completeness of data, the concepts and interpretation of questionnaires may not be fully understood by enumerators, inadequate supervision and others.
Data access
Confidentiality Declaration
Not specified
Citation requirement
Use of the dataset must be acknowledged using a citation which would include:
- the Identification of the Primary Investigator
- the title of the survey (including country, acronym and year of implementation)
- the survey reference number
- the source and date of download
- the Identification of the Primary Investigator
- the title of the survey (including country, acronym and year of implementation)
- the survey reference number
- the source and date of download
Disclaimer and copyrights
Disclaimer
The user of the data acknowledges that the original collector of the data, the authorized distributor of the data, and the relevant funding agency bear no responsibility for use of the data or for interpretations or inferences based upon such uses.
Contacts
Contact
| Name | Affiliation | URI | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food | Government of Tonga | [email protected] | |
| Department of Statistics | Government of Tonga | [email protected] | http://www.spc.int/prism/tonga/ |
Metadata production
Document ID
DDI_TON_2001_AgC_v01_M_WB
Producers
| Name | Abbreviation | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Development Data Group | DECDG | The World Bank | Metadata preparation |
Date of Production
2014-04-25
Document version
Version 01 (April 2014)