A technical team that includes elements from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries officially launched the first agricultural census of the country, with the motto “Ha’u Nia resposta, Ha’u Nia Futuru”, (“My Answer, my Future”) at a ceremony held on the 13th of August 2019, at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
The result of the census will help the Government of Timor-Leste to have correct data on the structure of each farmer’s family. The data obtained will serve as a reference for the Government and other stakeholders in the development of policies and programs in the agricultural sector, according to the priorities of the National Strategic Development Plan (PEDN) 2011-2030.
“It was on the basis of these fundamental reasons that the Government has set out, in the budget of 2019, the Agricultural census. The Technical Commission, however, had already begun in 2017 to make preparations and, with all its efforts, we can launch today this agricultural census with international standards, and implement it throughout the national territory”, said the deputy Minister of Finance and Acting Minister of Finance, Sara Lobo Brites, in the launch of this census.
The team of the Directorate General for Statistics of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, which is supported by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), worked with the relevant entities in the elaboration of the survey for the census.
“I take this opportunity to congratulate the staff of the Directorate-General for Statistics of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and FAO for your efforts to make this census a reality”, stressed the deputy Minister of Finance.
The agricultural census data will help, not just in conducting research in the agricultural sector and thus in the process of monitoring the life of farmers in Timor-Leste – according to the reality experienced by farmers – but it will also help the Government to improve the conditions of food production, livestock, horticulture, forest and fisheries.
Sara Lobo Brites also called on all the Timorese people to be proactive and participate in the 2019 agricultural census, “I want to ask the families of farmers throughout the country to contribute with your responses in the agricultural census “My Answer, my future: Participate!”.
The Agriculture Census of 2019 will cover all territory, including the RAEOA, and will end on October 12, 2019.