At the end of the 2007/08 Agricultural Year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in collaboration with the Ministries of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, Livestock and Fisheries Development; Water; Industry and Trade; the Prime Minister’s Office, Regional Administration and Local Government (PMO-RALG) and the Office of the Chief Government Statistician, (OCGS), Ministries of Agriculture and Natural Resources; Livestock and Fisheries conducted the 2007/08 Agricultural Sample Census. This is the fourth Agricultural Census to be carried out in Tanzania, the first one was conducted in 1971/72, the second in 1993/94 and 1994/95 (during 1993/94 data on household characteristics and livestock count were collected and data on crop area and production in 1994/95), and the third was conducted in 2002/03.
It is considered that this census is one of the largest to be carried out in Africa and indeed in many other countries of the world. The census collected detailed data on crop production, crop marketing, crop storage, livestock production, fish farming, and poverty indicators. In addition to this, the census was large in its scope and coverage as it provides data that can be disaggregated at district level and thus allow comparisons with the 2002/03 National Sample Census of Agriculture. The census covered smallholders in rural areas only and all the large scale farms.
This report presents the technical and operational aspects of the census from planning to execution stage. It has also included in the annex all the instruments used in the whole operation.
