Engendering Agricultural Censuses: The case of Malawi

1. Engendering Agricultural Censuses: The case of Malawi By Gunvor Iversen Moyo Statistics Norway Presented at the Global Forum on Gender Statistics, Accra Ghana, 26-28 January 2009

2. What does engendering (agricultural) Statistics mean? - It should be possible to disaggregate all statistical data by sex whenever possible - Information pertaining to gender issues should be included in all data collection - The above should become an integrated part of the general statistical system

3. What happened in Malawi to facilitate engendering the Agricultural census (NACAL)? - The management of the NSO was fully aware of the importance of including gender issues in the NACAL - The funding body, The Norwegian Government, also had the same awareness - The users discussed the various priority areas in a stakeholder conference, and the areas, including gender, was accepted as a basis for the NACAL data collection - Hence, collecting information that could be disaggregated by sex on relevant gender issues, became one of the priority areas of the NACAL

4. The importance of agriculture in Malawi • Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy in Malawi and the population is highly dependent on agriculture. • About 90 percent of the population live in rural areas, and almost every household is engaged in small holder agriculture • Even in urban areas, more than half of the households are engaged in agriculture. • A larger proportion of employed women are engaged in agriculture ( 84 percent) than employed men (71 percent) • About 30 percent of agricultural households are female headed • Agricultural output generates over 90% of export earnings, and 30-40% of GDP, most of which is produced by smallholders • The Government has given high priority to the development of the smallholder agricultural sub sector • Agricultural smallholders were also the main focus of NACAL.

5. About the NACAL • Data collection covered the 2006/07 agricultural season, enumerators were in the field for 10 months • The sample was about 25 000 households, including both rural and urban areas, giving reliable estimates for district level as well as for regions and the whole country

6. How did we engender NACAL? • Data collection: • Holding was defined as all land pertaining to a household • Information was collected on household level and on all parcels and plots owned by the household • Information was also collected on all household members, such as sex, age, relationship to household head

7. How did we engender NACAL? cont • Information used to disaggregate the information by sex: • Household: Characteristics of all hh members, like sex, age, relationship to head, used to analyse data on household level • Operator: From the household characteristics: Sex, age, rel. To head used to analyse data on parcel and plot level

8. How did we engender NACAL? cont • Gender issues were covered through 8 modules covering the smallholder sector: • Module 1. Household composition, • Module 2. Parcel details • Module 3. Plot details; • Module 4. Food security and HIV/AIDS; • Module 5. Marketing, • Module 6.Welfare Monitoring survey; • Module 7.Livestock survey; • Module 8.Village facilities

9. How did we engender NACAL? cont • Through a common identification system, all those modules can be merged: • data on sex of household head or sex of operator for parcels and plots can be linked to all the information provided on those levels. • The various modules can be linked, such that e.g poverty information for households can be used as a background variable for analysis for all relevant issues • Information on village facilities, such as access to markets can be linked to each household living in that village

10. Reports • So far 5 thematic reports have been produced: • Production and structure of smallholder agriculture in Malawi • Food security and HIV/AIDS • Livestock report • Villages in Malawi • The Gender Dimension of Agriculture •  Except for the village report, all tables are disaggregated by sex

11. Content of the Gender report • 1.Introduction • 1.1.Sample, data collection and data processing • 1,2 Main definitions • 2.The Gender Dimension, Female Headed versus Male Headed Households • 3. Ownership of land and livestock • 4.Crop production • 4.1.Agricultural practices • 4.2.Inputs • 4.3.Labour division • 5.4. Food security and Hiv/Aids

12. Further work • Stakeholder conference to discuss further analysis of NACAL, including a training session on data analysis • Comprehensive analyses of gender issues will be proposed, linking information from all relevant modules together, • - e.g link land size, inputs, agricultural practices, production and livestock keeping to food security • A small study fund will be set up to encourage further analysis of data on projects with a more limited scope

13. What about engendering agricultural statistics? • All information collected was disaggregated by sex, where possible • Most relevant gender issues in agriculture were covered • Integration in the statistical system: • - WMS is already an annual survey • -Employment, poverty and Food security are already modules in the annual WMS • - A system of Annual Agricultural Surveys will be designed using NACAL as a baseline, securing that sex disaggregated data on agricultural production will become an integral part of the data collection activities of NSO