Every hectare counts: Uzbekistan oversees first agricultural census with FAO support

Uzbekistan’s agricultural sector employed 21 percent of the country’s workforce and contributed approximately 17 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025. However, important gaps remain in agricultural statistics, partly because no nationally representative and comprehensive agricultural survey had been conducted since the country gained independence in 1991. 

Uzbekistan conducted its first agricultural census, combined with the population census, from 15 January to 28 February 2026. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Technical Cooperation Programme project supporting this work has since moved into the post-census phase, focusing on validating the census data, reconciling the results with regular agricultural statistics, and preparing the final results for dissemination. 

Making census results available and putting them to effective use will be an important step towards strengthening Uzbekistan’s agricultural statistics system. 

The role of agricultural censuses

Agricultural censuses are a fundamental component of national statistical systems, providing comprehensive information on the structure of agriculture. Census data help governments understand how agriculture is changing and provide an evidence base for agricultural, rural development and food policies. 

They provide information on agricultural holdings, land use, livestock and the characteristics of agricultural holders and workers. When combined with other statistical, administrative and geospatial data, census results can also support the design of regular agricultural surveys and contribute to a more integrated agricultural statistics system.

2026 marks the 100th anniversary of the agricultural census.

Uzbekistan puts agricultural census data to work with FAO’s support

With preliminary results of Uzbekistan’s population and agricultural census now available, attention has shifted to their validation and use. At the request of the National Statistics Committee (NSC), an FAO technical mission visited Tashkent from 17 to 21 August 2026 to support the reconciliation of census results with regular agricultural statistics.

Working with an international specialist, FAO and NSC experts reviewed concepts, definitions, coverage and reference periods used by the two data sources. The review found them to be broadly comparable, while identifying several areas requiring further clarification, including farm legal-status categories, the distinction between utilized agricultural area and total farm area, and the treatment of kitchen gardens. 

A hands-on exercise using cattle data demonstrated how the census could be used as a benchmark for reviewing regular agricultural statistics. It also showed that discrepancies vary by farm type and region, meaning that a single adjustment approach cannot be applied uniformly across crops, land and livestock.

FAO also presented a roadmap for moving from the agricultural census towards an integrated agricultural survey programme, based on a census-derived master sampling frame, a farm typology and greater use of administrative and geospatial data. A field visit to farms in the Tashkent Region that produce raspberries, cotton, flowers and potatoes provided an opportunity to consider the diversity of farming activities and the implications for data collection and respondent burden.

The National Statistics Committee identified an urgent need for support on anonymizing census microdata and statistical disclosure control to enable safe dissemination of the data. Preliminary discussions also covered possible follow-up assistance for modernizing agricultural statistics and related resource mobilization, although no funding arrangements have yet been agreed.

“The agricultural census provides an important opportunity to strengthen Uzbekistan’s agricultural statistics system. Once the census results are validated and reconciled with regular agricultural statistics, they can provide a stronger basis for future surveys and for producing coherent and reliable agricultural data,” says Rasmiyya Aliyeva, FAO Regional Statistician. 

The initiative is supported through FAO’s Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP), which celebrates its fiftieth anniversary in 2026.