Agricultural data is of paramount importance for development, says Director General of Ethiopia’s statistical agency during 50x2030 kick-off meeting
On 4 September, Ethiopia become the latest country to initiate formal discussions with 50x2030 to define how it will align with the objectives of the Initiative and implement activities in country. Talks were held during a virtual meeting between the 50x2030 Program Management Team and implementing agencies (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and World Bank), and the Central Statistical Agency (CSA) of Ethiopia. CSA was represented by Director General Biratu Yigezu and Deputy Directors General Amare Legesse and Aberash Tariku. During its presentation to the meeting, the Agency stressed the importance of agricultural data for planning in the sector and for the development of the country as it contributes an average 40% to GDP.
Ethiopia now enters the partnering and planning phase of country engagement with 50x2030 that involves deciding which of the integrated survey programs it will adopt, planning on the data use and research activities, identifying target outputs and results of the country program, financing arrangement and length of support from the Initiative, and agreeing on the timeline for taking over. These details will be captured in a program implementation plan (PIP) and in an official country agreement.
Ethiopia’s Central Statistical Agency has been collaborating with the World Bank in conducting a household panel survey based on the World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement Study - Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA). As part of implementing 50x2030, the country will be transitioning from the LSMS-ISA over a period of 2 years and will be preparing for the integrated survey model.
The meeting was chaired by the 50x2030 Program Manager El Iza Mohamedou. Also in attendance were the technical leads of the three areas of work under Initiative, Christophe Duhamel (FAO) for Data Production, Emily Hogue (IFAD) for Data Use and Alberto Zezza (World Bank) for Methods and Tools Development, along with representatives from the three implementing agency country offices in Ethiopia.