Mr Felix Chaahaah, Chief Director, Volta Regional Coordinating Council, at a press briefing in Ho on the Ghana Census of Agricultural Campaign said the main objective of the census was to provide accurate and reliable information on agricultural activities in the country.

He said the results would be made available to policy makers and other users to facilitate planning, research and evaluation of development programmes particularly in the economic sphere.

Mr Chaahaah said the census would also serve as a benchmark data for assessing the result of future statistical enquiries or surveys. He added that the survey would provide information that would enable the estimation of Agriculture’s contribution to the economy.He entreated all persons and institutions to avail themselves and provide data upon request.

He called on the media to help “reach out to the various communities” and that five cinema vans if the Information Services Department had been deployed to carry out the campaigns in the 25 districts of the Region.

Mr Chris Amewu, Regional Statistician, said the three-month survey would collect Agricultural-related data on every household.  He said every household entered by the field officers would be given a unique code with the prefix “GCA”.  Mr Amewu told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the only challenge being faced by the officers was the springing up of new communities and "navigating hard-to-reach terrains on foot."

The last time an agricultural census was conducted was in 1983 but halted due to lack of funding.