– Census of Agriculture 2007 – Explanatory Notes

Historical outline Estimates on area and production of some crops and livestock numbers were made in the country (at that time called ) in 1930 and 1950. The first Agricultural Census in Vanuatu was undertaken in 1983, and the second one was conducted in 1993. The last Agricultural Census in Vanuatu was conducted in 2007.

Organization The 2007 Census of Agriculture final report is based on the results of the census and surveys conducted between 21 st August and 21 st October 2007 by the Vanuatu National Statistical Office (VNSO), a centralized organization mainly responsible for the collection and dissemination of important statistics in the country. Vanuatu Government took the initiative to secure the necessary funds for the project. New Zeeland High Commission, the Australian High Commission and European Community arranged finance from NZAID, AusAID and EU. Technical assistance was provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

With a view to collecting data with high precision, officers and staff members of the VNSO worked as trainers during Phase I while the main census project staff (both VNSO and Ministry of Agriculture, Quarantine, Forestry and Fisheries [MAQFF]) were responsible for supervising data collection during Phase II. Under their guidance and supervision six census coordinators performed duties as provincial coordinators in both phases.

About 650 trained enumerators listed every household in Vanuatu and recorded all agricultural activities undertaken by sampled household, during May- June 2006. The enumeration tasks were done according to census EAs. Coding processing and tabulation were completed by mid-September 2006.

In August – September 2007 enumerators were again hired to collect and record the different data items included in each of nine questionnaires from households. Regular staff and census supervisors collected information for the commercial farms/holdings.

Enumeration period The enumeration took place during the period August and September 2007.

Reference date/period Data on agricultural activities of household’s members, data on crops and livestock refer to the 12 months proceeding the enumeration period.

Definition A household made up of an individual or a group of person with a common arrangement for providing themselves with food and other essentials for living. It could be a one-person or multi-person household. A sub-holding is defined as a single agricultural activity or group of activities managed by a particular person or group of persons in the holder’s household on behalf of the agricultural holder. There may be one or more than one sub-holding in a holding. A sub- holder is a person responsible for managing a sub-holding on the holder’s behalf. There is only one sub- holder in a sub- holding, but there may be more than one sub-holder in a holding.

Coverage The agricultural census was undertaken in eighteen main island of Vanuatu (covered entire country), namely, Banks, Torres, Malo, Santo, Ambae, Maewo, Pentecost, Malekula, , , Epi, Shepherds, , , Tanna, , Aniwa, and Futuna.

Frame The frame was creating during the Phase I. In this phase a listing for all household was prepared, the listing was conducted in May 2006.

Method The census was conducted in two phases:

Phase I was a listing undertaken for all household in Vanuatu whether residing in urban and rural areas. The data collected from all household were on gender; whether engaged in crop gardening, in cash crop such as coconut, , cocoa, coffee, vanilla and pepper, in fishing, or in forestry and logging activities; number of livestock kept as of a listing day such as cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, chicken. Phase I listing was used to select the sample enumeration areas for Phase II.

Phase II was planned to be a series of sample surveys of the following selected crops and livestock: coconut, cocoa, coffee, kava, vanilla, pepper, and cattle. Owing to limited resources, the collection of information on these crops and cattle was conducted simultaneously with household characteristics and crops gardens. There were separate questionnaires for each agricultural activity. Information from commercial farms/holdings was collected in the later part of Phase II.

A combination of complete enumeration and sampling was applied.

Data source Census of Agriculture 2007 Vanuatu, Vanuatu Government –National Statistics Office. (Hardcopy and CD_ ROM)

Contact Vanuatu National Statistical Office, PMB 9019, Port Villa, Vanuatu. Tel.: (+678) 22110/ 22111, Fax. : (+678) 24583 ; Email : [email protected].

Website http://www.spc.int/prism/country/vu/stats