Improving Agricultural Statistics in the COMCEC Region

Physical Resources:

DS both at the central and regional levels have sufficient information

technology (IT) resources (including workstations, statistical software, internet connections,

GIS stations, etc.) to handle all the statistical activities it performs. There are 30 computers at

headquarters and 40 in the field offices. The vehicle requirements are also very important for

the implementation of field surveys. The car park is under the responsibility of the regional

directorates of agriculture. Conducting surveys is in direct competition with other activities of

these directorates and from time to time, the Statistics Division hires private cars when

conducting major statistical surveys and censuses.

iv.

Methodology Used in Agricultural Statistics

Sampling Frameworks:

Surveys conducted by the Statistics Division of MAPM are generally

based on probability sampling. Several frames were used by agricultural statistics. Until 1978,

the base frame used was that of the agricultural tax. This base was gradually replaced by an

area frame. Today the main agricultural surveys are conducted on samples taken from the area

frame which covers the North-Western provinces, accounting for 95 percent of the agricultural

area sown in Morocco. Other provinces are covered by samples based on lists from the 1996

general census of agriculture. Total area is divided into strata within each province. The

stratification is done on topographic maps or photo plans with the collaboration of local

technical services of MAPM. Strata used are: large cities, small towns, villages. Non-irrigated

annual crops, irrigated annual crops, fruit plantations, forests, fallow and rangelands. Sample

size at each administrative unit is fixed, dependent on the agricultural importance of the unit

concerned and the diversity of agricultural crops that are produced. In total, the area sample

consists of 2,886 segments. The total number of farmers surveyed annually (area sample and

list) is estimated at 70,000.

Data Colle

ion:

The conventional method of data collection is still in force (documents and

questionnaires in hardcopy) for all surveys except for the price surveys, where Personal Digital

Assistants (PDA) are used. Data entry is provided by the regional agricultural statisticians. It is

conducted manually and is currently made using Census and Survey Processing System (CSPro

freeware) software by the Census Bureau of the United States of America (USA). Compiled data

is transmitted on floppy disks or memory sticks and sometimes via internet to the Division of

Statistics in Rabat. The verification of consistency of the data entered is done through specific

applications developed by the Statistics Division, using C+, while the analysis and data

processing is conducted using SPSS (Software Package used for Statistical Analysis). The

results of different surveys are stored in Microsoft Excel files. Applications are being

developed to organize them in a SQL (Structured Query Language) server databases. Currently,

there is no comprehensive database of the different primary agricultural surveys. Information

and communication technologies are starting to be used increasingly to collect process and

disseminate data.

Commodity Classification:

Morocco uses up-to-date classification systems (Table 42).

Idrissi, 2012.

Ibid