On Friday, during a press conference the officials of Kosovo Agency of Statistics (KAS) said  that  Agricultural Census in Kosovo, which started on November 1st, was completed yesterday, with participation of  34 municipalities of the Republic of Kosovo, while four northern municipalities didn’t participate in the Census.

 

The CEO of KAS, Isa Krasniqi said that Agriculture Census is a major project conducted in Kosovo after many years, and it was carried out according to planning made by Kosovo Agency of Statistics.

 

“Agriculture Census has gone exceptionally well, in line with the planning made by Kosovo Agency of Statistics and in conformity with the Law on Agriculture Census and all other laws of the Republic of Kosovo, while respecting at the same time the standards for such major projects. Maybe something that was not entirely completed is the fact that definitively four northern municipalities of Kosovo did not participate in Agriculture Census 2014,“ he said.

 

About the non-participation of northern municipalities in this census, he said that in the beginning the process has started well, where even in these municipalities have been selected the controllers and supervisors, but the process was disrupted at the time of selection of enumerators, that was the responsibility of municipalities. Mr. Krasniqi added that they have used all official lines to include these four municipalities in the census.

 

Mr. Krasniqi added that in the beginning of Agriculture Census they have had some minor obstacles, which he called technical mistakes, but then based on the commitment and continuous monitoring, Agriculture Census process was stabilized and carried out properly, and the last day of implementation of this project on the ground was 20 November.

 

“Yesterday was concluded this very large project and with this we end up with the most difficult and sensitive phase, the phase of  data collection on the ground.

After yesterday’s day, begins next stage, delivery of MCC's material  and delivery of this material to Kosovo Agency of Statistics, in order to start next very important phase, data entry and processing of those data , then we will start with the dynamics of planning that is under the Law on  Agriculture Census, the publication of preliminary results, that will  take place by the  end of February 2015, then  publication of final results, in September 2015 and we will continue with successive publications until December 2015,” he said.

 

The CEO, Krasniqi said based on the planning, in order to have a more qualitative Census, a Post Enumeration Survey will be carried out, which will begin on 1st  December and will end on 15 December.

 

He added that when completed all these processes, they will have an accurate view about all  data available from this important project for the Republic of Kosovo, in terms of economic development of the country and in terms of drafting various policies by central and local institutions of the Republic of Kosovo. 

 

While, Bajrush Qevani, Manager of Agriculture Census project, about the working   methodology used during Agriculture Census said that "enumerators in rural areas, have gone door to door in every household where they interviewed the head of the household and completed the Agriculture Census questionnaire.”

 

He added that in urban areas, the questionnaire has been sent to the households, declaring agricultural land and livestock they have.

 

Inter alia, he stressed that this census is very good for the Ministry of Agriculture, for governmental policies related to this subject matter, as well for local ones, because the data are very important for development of their policies at the local level.

 

Furthermore, he said that the final data will be very important also for other non-governmental organizations and individuals.