Improving Agricultural Statistics in the COMCEC Region
135
vi. Dissemination of Agricultural Statistics
Before 2008, depending on the type of statistics, softcopy and hardcopy publications were the
tools for dissemination. After 2008, the dissemination of agricultural statistics has mainly
become available electronically through CountrySTAT. The objective of CountrySTAT has been
to build nationally owned statistical information systems for food and agriculture which
harmonize, integrate and enhance statistical data and metadata on food and agriculture
coming from different sources. Metadata are essential for users of statistics by providing the
information necessary to interpret and make use of the statistics appropriately. Its main
features include browsing and analysis of data, advanced interactive data download, cross-
domain data search by using free-text, and data exchange through web services. The URL is:
The dissemination is at national (core) and sub-national (regions,
departments). Statistics on the agricultural sector are published annually and some of them
are quarterly through CountrySTAT. With regards to timeliness of dissemination, Technical
Work Group of CountrySTAT holds a regular meeting every three months to keep the data and
metadata up to date.137
With regards to reliability of the data currently produced, there appears to be some doubts just
before the 3rd General Census-scheduled to begin in 2014. Indeed most of the existing data is
based on subjective estimates made without actual field surveys and on questionable
methodologies. This data on major productions in the rural sector (plant and animal)
constitutes a real handicap for the policy of good quality and the assessment of their
implementation (no baseline).
vii. SWOT Analysis and Needs Assessment for Agricultural Statistics in Cameroon
Table 74: SWOT Analysis and Needs Assessment for Cameroon
STRENGTHS
 Existence of legal and institutional
infrastructure for statistics
 Use of CountrySTAT facilities
 Use of up to date methodology
 Use of international norms and
classifications
 High quality human resources
 Traditional domains (Production, Inputs,
Prices)
 International Trade data
 Physical infrastructure for statistics
 No serious budget constraint
 Communication Channels with FOASTAT,
UN
 Language (French and English)
 Participation in international statistical
initiatives
WEAKNESSES
 Difficulty of financing
 Missing domains (Investment, Markets,
Utilization, Greenhouse)
 Ineffective user dialogue
137 CountrySTAT, 2014.