A decade of waiting is over for Ivorian agricultural statisticians. The last Census of Farmers and Agricultural Exploitations (REEA) dates back to 2016. Since then, cocoa growing, cashew nuts, rice growing and food crops have changed profoundly, without any overall picture to update the figures that guide public policies. It is to fill this void that the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Food Production, Bruno Nabagné Koné, signed an agreement with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). This signing marks the official launch of the Technical Cooperation Program TCP/IVC/4101, the first step towards the National Agricultural Census (RNA).The objective is to provide the State with reliable data to pilot the transformation of a vital sector for the Ivorian economy and millions of rural families.

This technical support program must prepare the ground over two years, through four projects, namely the development of the project document for the future census, the establishment of its governance bodies, the deployment of digital tools for collecting data and strengthening the skills of national teams in agricultural statistics. The issue goes beyond just statistical mechanics.The RNA must provide the State with updated data on farms, cultivated areas and producer profiles, reflecting the changes that Ivorian agriculture has experienced since 2016, between the rise of the cashew nut, climatic pressures and local transformation ambitions driven by the National Agricultural Investment Program. For Minister Bruno Nabagné Koné, this collaboration with the FAO constitutes a major step in the transformation of the sector. He welcomed the constant support of the UN organization and reaffirmed Côte d'Ivoire's desire to now base its public policies on solid data, a condition for finer planning and more competitive agriculture.

It remains to transform this commitment into concrete results, because the RNA aims to be the reference tool for measuring the real progress of Ivorian food sovereignty.