THE Philippine Statistics Authority - Davao Region (PSA-Davao) urges farmers and fisherfolk in the region to participate in the Census of Agriculture and Fisheries (CAF) 2022, which is scheduled on September 4.
The national census aims to help the government design structural programs for fisherfolk and farmers, thus the collection and compilation of their data, which will be used in studying, analyzing, and determining possible interventions and solutions among agriculture and fishery sectors in the country.
CAF is conducted every ten years, the latest being in 2012.
“The data indicators to be collected in this census are of utmost significance to assist our policy makers, program managers, in designing and evaluating programs and support strategies for improving the country’s socio-economic development especially our food security,” PSA-Davao Regional Director Randolph Anthony Gales said in a speech during the CAF Press Launch at Seda Hotel on August 30.
The data from CAF also aims to provide an inventory of the country’s agricultural and fishery resources, identifying kinds of crops planted in the country, and statistical distribution of agricultural lands and aquaculture areas.
Meanwhile, PSA supervising statistical specialist Maria Leah Magracia assures privacy of data for participating farmers and fisherfolks, reiterating that data can be collected through either computer-assisted personal interviews, questionnaires, or the pen and paper interviewing through the help of the agency-hired and trained enumerators.
“We are banking with our participants na magtabang siya sa (to help our) country… we also assure that their data is safe under the Republic Act 10173 or Data Privacy Act [of 2012],” Magracia said in an interview with the media.
This census is also under the mandate of Republic Act (RA) Number 10625 also known as the Philippine Statistical Act of 2013, authorizing PSA to conduct periodic census on agriculture and fisheries.
CAF is also under Executive Order No. 352 (Designation Of Statistical Activities That Will Generate Critical Data For Decision-Making Of The Government And The Private Sector) signed by former president Corazon Aquino, which emphasized a need to conduct agriculture and fisheries census every ten years to provide data for government planners and politicians to build their strategies for the country's development. ICE