CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE
IBGE releases the study Geographies of Confidentiality for the 2017 Census of Agriculture
October 10, 2024 10h00 AM | Last Updated: October 11, 2024 01h29 PM
The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) is releasing today (10/10) a study that proposes a methodology to make it possible to make statistical results from the 2017 Census of Agriculture available for any geography of the country, ensuring that the confidentiality of the irespondents and the information they provide be kept.
The publication Geographies of Confidentiality for the 2017 Census of Agriculture presents a new methodology for aggregating data to generate statistics, in which the microdata considered is no longer a single agricultural establishment but a minimum set of 10 establishments. One of its main features is the maintenance of the spatial semantics inherent to the distribution of agricultural establishments in Brazilian territory.
Maurício Silva, geographer at the IBGE, explains that “establishments are grouped into sets of at least 10 establishments, according to their contexts. For example, those located in the same Conservation Unit tend to be put together in the same groups, and those located on the edge of a dam or along the same highway are grouped together in the same way.” Mr. Silva also highlighted that there are similar initiatives in other countries, such as the United Kingdom, although they use different methodologies. “In the new methodology developed at the IBGE, we paid close attention to ensuring that these blocks reflect the spatial semantics of the Brazilian territory, so that agricultural establishments are grouped according to the same contexts,” explained Mr. Silva. The geographer also highlighted that the objective of the methodology “is to provide statistical data in geographic segments that are specific to the needs of institutions and researchers.” He also emphasized that the IBGE follows international standards for confidentiality of statistical information and is aligned with national legislation that regulates statistical and personal confidentiality of the population, which is why it needs to omit certain data in its publications when these pose a risk of revealing the respondents and their information.
Currently, one of the main limitations to the dissemination of data is caused by consecutive spatial intersections between Specific Geographies (sections that do not follow the borders of enumeration areas or municipalities) and the other sections published. These successive intersections have been referred to by experts and other national statistics institutes as the problem of “geographic differentiation”. Such intersections enhance the individualization of data, which forces the IBGE to omit them to maintain confidentiality. The Geographies of Confidentiality for the 2017 Census of Agriculture (UGCs-CA17) prevent the individualization of data, thus allowing the expansion of the availability of statistics for any geography specified by users.
Using these Geographies, the IBGE is able to respond to requests from experts and institutions (public or private) for results from the 2017 Census of Agriculture aggregated by specific segments that are of interest to them. Such requests will undergo supervised statistical aggregation procedures and due assessments on the feasibility of making the data available before being offered. Maurício Silva also explained that the UGCs will be used in other IBGE surveys. “Studies are being conducted to create UGCs for the 2022 Population Census. There are also plans to create UGCs for the 12th Census of Agriculture,” said the geographer.
