WINDHOEK, Namibia - The Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA), United Nations Population Fund Country Office and other UN sister agencies in collaboration with stakeholders in statistics, agriculture, food and nutrition sectors commemorated the African Statistics Day on 2 December 2022.

African Statistics Day was adopted in May 1990 by the 16th Meeting of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Conference of African Ministers for Planning and Economic Development.

The day is celebrated annually on 18 November and the theme for 2022 is “Strengthening data systems by modernising the production and use of agricultural statistics: informing policies with a view to improving resilience in agriculture, nutrition and food security in Africa”.

The theme for Africa Statistics Day 2022 was chosen to raise awareness among decision-makers, technical and financial partners, data producers and users, including researchers, and the public about the importance of data and statistics in building resilience and ending hunger in Africa.

A better understanding of the challenges and opportunities involved in achieving all the production of statistics and agriculture-related Sustainable Development Goals and their targets requires high-quality data and statistical analysis to inform decision-making and policy design.

In his remarks, Statistician-General of NSA, Mr. Alex Shimuafeni emphasized the importance of statistics for informed policy and decision-making.

“A better understanding of the challenges and opportunities involved in achieving all the production of statistics and agriculture-related Sustainable Development Goals and their targets requires high-quality data and statistical analysis to inform decision-making and policy design,” said Shimuafeni.

“Although notable efforts have been made towards improving data availability for indicators related to agriculture, nutrition and food security, much remains to be done in prioritizing processes for strengthening and improving existing agricultural statistical systems in Africa,” he observed.

The half-day programme included a panel session with experts unpacking the role of sound statistics in building more resilient food systems and ending hunger.