Strategic Plan for Agricultural and Rural Statistics (SPARS)

The Strategic Plan for Agricultural and Rural Statistics (SPARS) in Namibia is a comprehensive initiative aligned with the Global Strategy (GS) for improving agricultural and rural statistics. The objectives of SPARS align with Namibia’s National Development Plans, including NDP5 and the Harambee Prosperity Plan II, focusing on economic growth, social transformation, and sustainability. SPARS addresses the growing demand for reliable agricultural statistics driven by national policies and international agendas like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). Integration with the Agriculture Sector Statistics Plan (SSP-A) ensures synergy and efficiency, leveraging ongoing initiatives for better statistical outcomes. The policy context emphasizes the importance of agricultural statistics in decision-making for food security, climate action, and sustainable development, as outlined in the SDGs.
Chapter 2 presents the results of the assessment phase of the SPARS development, in which the current agricultural and rural statistics system is evaluated, data gaps and weaknesses are identified, and the country’s capacity to improve agricultural and rural statistics is examined. This provides the basis for determining the necessary actions to improve statistics and how the SPARS should be designed to achieve this goal. Much of the material in this chapter is taken from the IdCA report. The Global Strategy for Agricultural and Rural Statistics (GSARS) aims to enhance countries’ capacities in developing sustainable agricultural statistics systems integrated within the NSS. This involves using international standards and methods to produce essential core data. Central to this goal is the In-depth Capacity Assessment (IdCA), which evaluates various aspects such as the country’s agricultural and rural statistics status, agrarian structure, development priorities, institutional processes, stakeholders’ perspectives, strengths, and weaknesses. The IdCA employs a Standardized Questionnaire for Capacity Assessment to comprehensively assess these elements.