CONTENTS
Summary. 1
A.
Introduction. 2
B.
Reasons for the high cost of censuses. 2
C.
Difficulties encountered in the funding of censuses. 2
D.
Possible solutions. 3
E.
Conclusion. 4
Organization
and Financing of Population Censuses in Sub-Saharan Africa: Problems and
Prospects
Solutions to census funding
problems have been discussed at many international meetings, and a number of
strategies have been suggested. First, statisticians and demographers must work
to raise the level of awareness about the importance of the population census
data for all national programmes. Second, the census must be an integrated part
of the country’s statistical activities, rather than a special, limited
activity. Some tasks, such as mapping, should be ongoing and continuous. Third,
census operations must be better planned, with particular attention to the
post-enumeration phase. Fourth, sharing of resources and personnel should be
explored to help reduce costs. Fifth, census officials should resist pressures
to make questionnaires more detailed. Some data should be collected in surveys
rather than in the census. And finally, every effort should be made to use new
technologies, especially in census mapping, data capture, computer processing and
dissemination.
Censuses are complex and
expensive enterprises requiring careful planning and the mobilization of
numerous people and resources. All inhabited areas in the country must be
visited, and the entire population must be enumerated in a limited period of
time. In sub-Saharan Africa, additional factors add to the cost of a census.
They include incomplete land registry, an illiterate population, incomplete
civil registration, communication and infrastructure difficulties, a mobile
population, high rates of population growth, inadequate census planning and
failure to take advantage of acquired technical know-how. Moreover, experience
gained from earlier censuses is often unavailable or disregarded, so planning
takes place as if a census had never been conducted.
The current
census-funding crisis in sub-Saharan Africa has been caused by the low level of
funding allocated by countries for their censuses and the shrinking
contributions from bilateral and multilateral donors. Structural adjustment
programmes put into place to deal with financial and economic crises in the
1980s have left little room in budgets for expensive statistical programmes. At
the same time, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has shifted its priorities from
such issues as censuses to reproductive health and the relationship between
population and development. Bilateral donors have tended to offer loans instead
of grants for census taking, which many countries cannot afford to accept. Some
national statistical offices have begun their censuses with no assurance that
they would be able to continue the work. After enumeration was completed,
census questionnaires could be held for months until money was available for
data processing. The delays increased the cost of the census while making the
data less timely and less useful. In addition, data users have requested
increasingly detailed census questionnaires, which adds to the processing time
and costs.
1.
Under the African Census Programme established by the
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and with significant
technical and financial assistance from the United Nations system, in
particular the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), a large number of
countries in sub-Saharan Africa conducted their first population censuses in
the 1970s. An even larger number of countries participated in global census
programmes in the 1980s and 1990s. Over the three decades, an impressive volume
of population data was collected, and expertise in the collection, processing
and analysis of such data was built up in national statistical institutes.
2.
In recent years, the organization of population
censuses has increasingly been encountering financial difficulties, one of the
consequences of which has been an increase in the interval (theoretically 10
years) between censuses.
3.
The purpose of this paper is to make some
suggestions that might help solve the problem of the funding of population
censuses in sub-Saharan Africa.
4.
Organizing a population census is a complex
operation requiring the general mobilization of all the actors concerned:
statisticians and demographers, political and administrative authorities,
donors and the population as a whole. Its planning therefore requires a great
deal of care. A census is also a costly operation because of its
exhaustiveness: all the inhabited places in a country must be visited and
numerous data must be collected for the entire population in a limited period
of time.
5.
In the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, the
following specific factors help to raise the costs of censuses:
·
Incomplete land registry coverage and lack of
regular updates of the registry;
·
High illiteracy rates;
·
Gaps in the civil registration system;
·
Communication difficulties, in particular poor road
conditions;
·
Extensive population movements, especially as a
result of the rural exodus;
·
Continuing high rates of population growth;
·
Inadequate planning of census operations; and
·
Failure to take advantage of acquired technical know-how.
6.
Significant progress can be seen in most of the
above areas, but a major handicap remains: poor planning of census operations,
characterized by the lack of importance given to computer processing of census
data and to analysis and dissemination of the results. This causes lengthy
delays, increases the overall cost of the census and results in low levels of
use of the data produced.
7.
Furthermore, high turnover of supervisory staff and
poor organization in most national statistical institutes mean that advantage
is rarely taken of acquired expertise. Often, when a population census is being
prepared, the authorities act as if this was the country’s first census. It may
even happen that basic data from the preceding census are no longer available
and that nothing remains of prior mapping work.
8.
As indicated in the introduction, it is becoming
increasingly difficult in most sub-Saharan African countries to secure funding
for population censuses.
The main reasons are the following:
·
The low level of funding which States allocate to
censuses
The structural adjustment programmes put in place to combat the economic
and financial crisis which began in the 1980s in most countries leave little
room in State budgets for funding costly statistical operations.
·
The relative disengagement of bilateral and
multilateral donors
During the 1970s and 1980s, the United Nations Population Fund allocated
significant sums to the funding of censuses and population surveys in
sub-Saharan Africa. In some countries, the first ever population census was
funded essentially by UNFPA, with a modest contribution from the government.
After emphasizing the collection of demographic data in the 1970s, UNFPA
shifted its priorities in the 1980s, turning most of its attention to
reproductive health, the relationship between population and development, and
awareness-raising on those issues. At the same time, it had to take into
account the constraints imposed by its donors. All this brought about a decline
in the share of its funding earmarked for census operations.
9.
The priorities of certain bilateral donors also
changed during this period. While most of the funds made available by donors in
the 1970s were in the form of grants, some countries were subsequently forced
to use loans to finance their censuses. Since these loans form part of broader
development programmes, it is not always easy to use them because of the
conditions attached to the programmes.
10.
In order to secure funding for censuses, the
governments of sub-Saharan African countries sometimes held donor round tables.
These were not always successful, with some census operations failing to obtain
funding.
11.
In these circumstances, some national statistical
institutes had to begin operations, particularly mapping operations, without
the assurance that they would have the necessary funding to continue their
work. Their main aim was to enumerate the population, even if that meant
holding on to the completed questionnaires for months afterwards until
additional financing was obtained. Lastly, it should be mentioned that, under
pressure from users, census questionnaires are becoming increasingly detailed,
which means that they take longer to process, entailing an increase in census costs.
12.
The difficulties of funding population censuses in
sub-Saharan Africa have been discussed at various levels both within and
outside Africa.
13.
At its fourth meeting, held in Bamako in November
1998, the Executive Committee of AFRISTAT (Observatoire Economique et
Statistique d’Afrique) held a special session on the subject with the
participation of the director-general of France’s National Institute of
Economic and Statistical Information. More recently, the issue was addressed in
a working group of the Paris 21 Consortium. It is also being discussed in other
forums, for instance in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) for
the countries of southern Africa.
14.
It is true that, unless satisfactory solutions are
found, some sub-Saharan African countries may find it impossible to organize
further population censuses. Strategies must therefore be devised to meet the
increasing costs of conducting population censuses in Africa. Such strategies
could take into account the following elements:
1. Awareness raising on the need to continue
conducting censuses
Emphasis on good governance, decentralization policies and anti-poverty
strategies all require the availability of demographic data at detailed geographical
levels that only a population census can provide.
Given the rudimentary nature of the civil registration system in
sub-Saharan Africa, conducting population censuses at regular intervals (10
years) remains essential. Accordingly, statisticians and demographers must work
at the task of raising the awareness of national political authorities and
donors. The development of strategic frameworks for combating poverty in
support of the debt-reduction initiative offers an opportunity for sound planning
of statistical operations and their financing.
2. Better integration of censuses in the
activities of national statistical
institutes
The organization of population censuses must be an integral part of the
activities of national statistical institutes. It cannot go on being considered
a special, limited activity despite its scope and complexity. Some activities,
such as mapping, should be an ongoing task, with regular updating of maps
through the use of new technologies.
3. Better planning of census operations
All the activities which contribute to the success of a census must be
identified at the outset and their execution programmed and their costs
calculated. Special attention must be paid to the post-enumeration phase: data
capture, tabulation, analysis and dissemination.
4. Effective mobilization and rational use
of available resources
The purchase of new equipment, particularly vehicles, takes up a great
deal of the budget for a census. During the enumeration period, which requires
maximum mobilization of human and material resources, it should be possible to
use the existing vehicle fleet of public services and local authorities. As for
human resources, using teachers, who are usually well distributed throughout
the national territory, should help to reduce costs.
5. Preparation of questionnaires
Population census officials should resist pressures to make
questionnaires more detailed. Some data can be collected in greater detail and
with greater precision in post-census surveys. Special attention should be paid
to the design of the questionnaire, in order to facilitate keyboarding of the
data collected during enumeration.
6. Use of new technologies
New technologies should be used in every possible area, particularly
census mapping, data capture, computer processing and dissemination.
15.
This paper has attempted to identify the factors
which raise the costs of population censuses in sub-Saharan Africa and to make
some suggestions for developing strategies to reduce those costs. As in other
areas of statistics, effective awareness-raising, good organization, rigorous
planning of operations and optimum use of new technologies will help make
censuses less difficult to finance.
