The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) starts today, April 16, the data collection for the 2007 Censuses, which encompass two surveys conducted simultaneously and in an integrated way – the Census of Agriculture, all over the country, and the Population Count, in the municipalities with up to 170 thousand inhabitants and in other 21 special municipalities¹. For the fist time in the country, the censuses will be totally done using computers; the interviews will be done by about 70 thousand census takers, with the help of handheld computers equipped with GPS and digital maps. This technology will allow a record release of the censuses results. The Population Count data, for instance, will be available to society on August 31^st, only one month after the end of the data collection. The whole operation is estimated to cost R$ 560 million. The 2007 Censuses will also result in the formation of the National Register of Addresses for Statistical purposes, which is going to be used in the main IBGE surveys.       

The Censuses will cover over 160 thousand census sectors: the urban ones with an average of 250 municipalities each; the rural ones, with 130 households and 85 establishments, on average. Minas Gerais (853 municipalities in the Census of Agriculture and 841 in the Population Count), São Paulo (645 and 601, respectively), Rio Grande do Sul (496 and 484) and Bahia (417 and 410) are the states with the highest number of municipalities in which there will be a census in 2007. In relation to households surveyed, São Paulo (3,672,512) and Minas Gerais (3,189,134) have the highest figures, whereas Roraima (83,521) and Amapá (123,829), have the lowest ones.

To  confirm the interviewer identification, or if you have any doubts about the 2007 Censuses, call 0800-7218181 or access the IBGE web site:

www.ibge.gov.br.

After ten years, updated information about Brazilian agriculture

The 10^th Census of Agriculture, which is the biggest and most complete survey on the productive structure of the primary sector, will bring a detailed profile of approximately 5,7 million establishments in the segments of agriculture, forestry, livestock, aquaculture, beekeeping, culture of the silkworm Bombyx mori, vegetation extraction, processing and transformation of agricultural products, in all the 5,564 Brazilian municipalities.

Its results will show, among other things, how many of these establishments exist; their infrastructure and area (machinery and equipment, existence and source of electricity, etc); what and how much they produce; who their producers are; how many persons are employed in the establishments; the profile of employment in them; the practices and measures applied in them (agricultural techniques, use of pesticides, irrigation, etc). It will investigate previously unseen topics which common nowadays, such as final destination of pesticide packages, organic agriculture and use of transgenic seeds, among others. 

Among the innovations of this edition of the Censuses is the release of collected data considering special areas: resettlement of barrages, settlement of rural workers, indigenous lands and environmental reservations. The information are also displayed by geographical level representing the several biomes and hydrographic bays of the country.

This way, the 10^th Census of Agriculture will reveal the changes which have occurred in the sector since the last survey of this sort, which was conducted in 1996. It will show, for instance, the results of macroeconomic policies (the importance of policies of inflation control to the stability of food prices and the promotion of exports of Brazilian agricultural products) and of specific governmental programs (the Program for Strengthening of Household Agriculture – PRONAF and the Program for Agricultural Reform); the effective occupation of areas of the agricultural frontier (Mato Grosso, Rondônia and Pará); the combination of agroecological practices and modern use of land in environmentally fragile areas; productivity gains; the recent importance given to certain crops (soybeans, for instance).

The updated information about social, economical and environmental aspects of the agricultural activity are fundamental for the development and monitoring of public policies; for the improvement of distribution of public resources; and are relevant aid to the planning of the inclusion of populations and areas in the Integrated and sustained development of agricultural activity in the country.   

Most of the agricultural establishments interviewed are located in Minas Gerais (570,440), Bahia (552,528) and Rio Grande do Sul (551,741), whereas the lowest number are in the Federal District (6,089) and in Amapá (11,276). The data collection of the 10^th Census of Agriculture will be done from April to August 2007, and the first releases are expected for October.

Count will update population figures of 5,435 municipalities

The Population Count will be conducted in about 28 million households³, in 5414 municipalities with up to 170 thousand inhabitants, and in over 21 municipalities⁴ located in states where only one or two municipalities exceed this population limit. These areas had about 99 million inhabitants in 2006. With the Population Count in these 5,435 municipalities and the population estimate for the other 129 municipalities, Brazil will get to know the new population figures in all the 5,564 Brazilian municipalities.

Besides the number, the Count will investigate the sex and age of all inhabitants. Its main objective is to provide updated data for the distribution of the Municipality Participation Fund (FPM), which is based on population prospects and estimates that IBGE has released annually since 1989.

The Population Count is essential to guarantee the improvement of the precision of these estimates, which also serve the database of ministries and state and municipal secretaries of the social field, for the creation of public policies. It is also a powerful instrument to finance, for instance, national vaccination campaigns, the evaluation of school enrollments, as well as the offer of services to children, youngsters, persons at active age and the elderly. Finally, it provides tools for the elaboration of complete mortality tables released by IBGE every year, and which are used to calculate social security benefits.

Electronic data collection s the main technological innovation

The main technological innovation of the Census is the use of about 82 thousand handheld computers – PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) which will replace the traditional paper questionnaires. There are innumerous advantages in electronic collection, especially in terms of the speed of information processing and data release.

The PDAs will allow immediate criticism, at the moment the data are being collected by the census takers. It will enable the correction of data at the moment of the interview and will guarantee the filling out of all the compulsory blanks. It will also avoid the lack of answers caused by mistakes of the census taker. The PDAs will optimize interview time, the transfer of data throughout the collection period and make it possible to analyze the information practically at real time, thus eliminating the complicated step of data entrance from paper questionnaires. 

Since they have a connected GPS equipment (Global Positioning System), the PDAs will make it possible to obtain the exact location of census takers in the collecting sectors (census sectors), as well as the precise obtaining of geographical coordinates of establishments and households in the rural area, which will allow a more effective supervision of all the work. The georeferencing of the survey areas will bring benefits to the release of data.   

Finally, the census taker will provide the rural producers with geographic coordinates, so that they can use it in the future as a reference to locate their establishment and track its livestock and agricultural production. With these geographical information, the country will be more prepared to monitor the movement of its cattle, fruits, wood and other products all over the national territory. This way, it will be better prepared to face the internal phytosanitary and environmental problems and the barriers to the export of our products.

For the transmission of the data collected by the 2007 Censuses, IBGE will use, besides its own structure of 27 State Units and 534 Municipal Agencies, other units spread among schools, municipal government offices and associations. These establishments will provide the necessary space to census takers, so that they can upload the information and transmit it to the headquarters of the Institute, in Rio de Janeiro. A total 1,111 places with microcomputers and broadband Internet access will be used; 700 of them will have satellite internet access.

An army on the battlefield

In order to help its staff of about 7,5 thousand servants to conduct the 2007 census, IBGE has hired, in a public entrance course for temporary positions, 750 thousand census takers from all over the country.

From today on, 68 thousand census takers will start the field work, a number which is equivalent to approximately 40% of the body of the Brazilian Army (about 170 thousand persons). All these professionals have gone through a training period which ended last Friday, May 13^th . They were taught how to apply the concepts and definitions necessary for the collection of data for the Census of Agriculture and the Population Count, as well as to learn how to use the PDA correctly.  

When visiting the  households and the agricultural establishments the IBGE census takers will be identified in an easy and safe way, by a vest and a badge with a photo. In case the informant wishes, the census taker can also show their own identity card, for confirmation. It is also possible to check the authenticity of the badge by telephone, 0800-7218181, a toll-free number in Brazil.

The table below shows the main figures of the 2007 Censuses by Federative Unit

¹ Located in states in which only in one or two municipalities the population exceeded this number.

² On December 31, 2006.

³ All the residents in private and collective households in the date of reference of the survey which is the night of March 31st / April 1st, 2007.

⁴ RIO BRANCO (AC), ARAPIRACA (AL), MACEIÓ (AL), MANAUS (AM), MACAPÁ (AP), IMPERATRIZ (MA), SÃO LUÍS (MA), CAMPO GRANDE (MS), DOURADOS (MS), CUIABÁ (MT), VÁRZEA GRANDE (MT), CAMPINA GRANDE (PB), JOÃO PESSOA (PB), TERESINA (PI), MOSSORÓ (RN), NATAL (RN), PORTO VELHO (RO), BOA VISTA (RR), ARACAJU (SE), NOSSA SENHORA DO SOCORRO (SE), PALMAS (TO).