Unlocking Cambodia’s Agricultural Landscape: Another Round of the National Agricultural Survey Strengthens the Basis for Informed Decision-Making
Cambodia is making strides towards harnessing the power of agricultural survey data to inform policymaking and monitor processes. The country recently released the results of the Cambodia Agriculture Survey (CAS) 2021, providing users with free access to data on crop cultivation, livestock and poultry raising, aquaculture and capture fishing, labor, economy and the impact of external shocks on agriculture.
Key insights from the CAS 2021 were summarized in a final report that was presented by representatives from the National Institute of Statistics - Ministry of Planning (NIS-MOP) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) in December 2023. In February 2024, the anonymized microdata were freely released on Cambodia’s Microdata Catalog.
Results from the CAS 2021 estimated a total of 2.2 million household agricultural holdings in Cambodia, or 63 percent of the total number of households counted in the General Population Census of 2019. Crop activity was reported on 92 percent of all household agricultural holdings in Cambodia, while 72 percent reported raising livestock, poultry or insects. An estimated 21 percent were involved in capture fishing activity and 4 percent in aquaculture. The survey also provided important data on agricultural income, land ownership and the contribution of occasional agricultural workers to the agricultural sector.
Data cleaning and analysis activities are currently in process for the CAS 2022 and 2023. NIS and MAFF are already engaged in preparatory work for the CAS 2024. Each round of completed CAS results further consolidates this resource to provide policymakers and data users with a detailed and comprehensive perspective of the agricultural landscape in Cambodia.
The CAS is implemented under the leadership of NIS-MOP, in partnership with MAFF, with technical support from the Data Production component, led by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), of the 50x2030 Initiative to Close the Agricultural Data Gap. The CAS 2021 data collection activities were conducted in November and December 2021 by a total of 429 staff from MAFF and MoP provincial offices, following survey preparatory activities coordinated by NIS and FAO.
The implementation of the 50x2030 Initiative, with the technical support provided by FAO, is enhancing the quality of the survey data and strengthening the analytical skills of national officials. This effort contributes to boosting the country’s capacity to make informed decisions and to develop policies based on the data collected.
Click here to learn more about the 50x2030 Initiative's work in Cambodia.