Abstract

Most people in Lao PDR live in rural areas and make their living from agriculture. The Government needs detailed and up-to-date statistics on agriculture to help develop the agricultural sector and improve the welfare of the people.

The Government already has statistics on the area and production of rice and other major crops, as well as livestock numbers. However, there is little information available on such things as: the different types of rice grown, the number of rice farmers, the area planted to minor crops, the use of different inputs, the use of farm machinery, farm size, farm labour, and the age/sex structure of livestock. The Lao Agricultural Census will provide these and many other data.

The Lao Agricultural Census is part of a world-wide programme of agricultural censuses, which started in the 1930’s. Over 120 countries are now participating in that programme; many of these undertake agricultural censuses every ten years. The Lao agricultural Census is the first such census undertaken in Lao PDR. It is being conducted in all 141 districts and is one of the largest and most important statistical collections ever undertaken in the country.

The census was developed based on the guidelines given in FAO Statistical Development Series No.5: Programme for the World Census of Agriculture 2000 (FAO 1996), taking into account the circumstances in Lao PDR. Extra emphasis was given to data on rice, because of its importance in Lao agriculture.

One of the keys to running an agricultural census is defining a suitable "farm" unit. In the Lao Agricultural Census, the farm unit used was the agricultural holding, defined as an economic unit of agricultural production under single management, comprising all livestock raised and all agricultural land operated, regardless of ownership. An agricultural holding is sometimes referred to as a "holding" or a "farm household".

Only household units were included in the census; that is, agricultural activities of businesses, government organisations, etc. were excluded. Usually, an agricultural holding is the same as a household, but sometimes it consists of two or more households operating as a partnership.

The Lao Agricultural Census covered only those units that either: - operated 0.02 ha or more of agricultural land in the 2010 wet season or the 2010/11 dry season; or - were raising 2 or more cattle or buffaloes, 5 or more pigs or goats, or 20 or more poultry at the time of the census.

An agricultural holding can be a land holding or a livestock holding. A land holding is one that operated 0.02 ha or more of agricultural land in 2010/11. A livestock holding is an agricultural holding that is not a land holding.

One of the interesting features of the agricultural sector as the market system develops is measuring the extent to which farmers participate in the market economy. In the census, information was collected for each agricultural holding on: - the main purpose of production on the holding in 2010/11; - whether, in 2010/11, any production by the holding was sold, whether any was exchanged for other produce, and whether any was used for home consumption.

Geographic coverage

National

Analysis unit

Agricultural holdings - Land holding - Livestock holding

Universe

The Lao Census of Agriculture 2010/11 covered the whole of Lao PDR, including urban areas in Vientiane and elsewhere. The census covered private households only. Agricultural activities of institutional units such as government farms, private companies and schools were excluded.

The Lao Agricultural Census covered only those units that either: - operated 0.02 ha or more of agricultural land in the 2010 wet season or the 2010/11 dry season; or - were raising 2 or more cattle or buffaloes, 5 or more pigs or goats, or 20 or more poultry at the time of the census.

Kind of data

Census/enumeration data [cen]

Sampling procedure

The sample for the sample farm household component was selected using two-stage sampling: a sample of villages was first selected, and then a sample of farm households was selected in each sample village.

In most districts, a sample of between 16 and 22 villages was selected, with 16 farm households selected in each sample village; that is, a sample of between 256 and 352 sample farm households in each district. The more villages or farm households in a district, the bigger the sample that was taken. A smaller sample was taken in districts containing few villages or households and in urban areas.

In each district, the sample of villages was selected using stratified systematic probability proportional to size (PPS) sampling. A list of all villages in Lao PDR was prepared. Villages were divided into urban and rural strata, with rural strata being sampled more heavily than urban strata because of their agricultural importance. The estimated number of households in each village was used as the size measure for PPS sampling.

The sample of farm households in each sample village was selected using stratified systematic random sampling based on a list of all farm households in each village prepared following the household component of the census.

Altogether, 2,620 villages and 41,660 farm households formed the sample.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The questionnaire has 4 forms: Form 1: Household listing Form 3: Village Form 4: Households (short) Form 5: Sample household (long)

Cleaning operations

Errors to be corrected during the data entry: "Fatal" error; that is, the data are wrong and should be corrected in the editing process (not during the data entry). "Query" error; that is, the data might be wrong and should be checked during the editing process (not during the data entry).

Sampling error estimates

Not computed