What was the agricultural census?
10 districts
A nationwide picture
The first agricultural census since 2008 collected information about agricultural holdings throughout Suriname.
The agricultural census in brief
When did the Census take place?
Jan – Mar 2025
Three months of fieldwork
Land and livestock were counted as they stood on 13 January 2025, giving every interview the same point in time.
How was information collected?
CAPI
Face-to-face interviews on tablets
Data were collected using CAPI on tablets — the first time this data-collection method was used for an agricultural census in Suriname, with checks built directly into the questionnaire.
How large was the field operation?
324
Field staff
The interviewers and supervisors carried out the census under the coordination of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries (MAAHF).
How many holdings were counted?
14,409
Agricultural holdings
The results describe agricultural holdings across all ten districts, using approaches adapted to the coastal area, Paramaribo, and the interior.
What else did the census measure?
SDG 5.a.1
Women’s rights to agricultural land
A dedicated module supports reporting on women’s ownership and control of agricultural land.
Why count agriculture?
A census is more than a count of agricultural holdings. It is the reference point for understanding long-term change and for building a statistical system that can keep producing current agricultural information.
-
See how agriculture is changing
The latest figures can be compared with those from previous censuses, particularly the 2008 census. This makes it possible to identify changes in agricultural holdings, land use, production systems, and the people working in the agricultural sector.
-
Plan where support is needed
National, district, and local information helps guide decisions about land, irrigation, advisory services, food security, and rural development.
-
Keep agricultural information current
The census created an up-to-date list of agricultural holdings. This makes smaller, lower-cost surveys possible, so information can be updated more often without asking every farmer to take part each time.
-
Improve the information already collected
Census results provide a reliable point of comparison for the records collected by the Ministry and can help identify missing or outdated information.
-
Understand agricultural land ownership and tenure rights
The census asked who owns or holds rights over agricultural land. This makes it possible to examine differences between women and men and where secure land rights may be lacking.
What is an agricultural holding?
The census counted agricultural holdings — the basic unit for which information was collected. What mattered was who managed the agricultural activity as one unit.
An agricultural holding is all the land, animals, and other agricultural activities managed as one unit by civil persons (one person or group of persons) or by juridical persons.
One management
- Civil person (one individual) One person makes the main decisions
- Group of civil persons Several people manage as a group
- Juridical persons Corporations, Institute/Institutions, Government
Agricultural activities
- Land One parcel/plot or many, in one place or several — still one holding
- Crops Annual, semi-permanent, permanent, fallow land and pasture
- Livestock Cattle, small ruminants, pigs and poultry
- Bees Bee-keeping also qualifies
How did we decide who qualified?
Fieldworkers first asked every household or organization a short set of screening questions.
- The questions checked whether any crops, livestock, bee-keeping, or other agricultural activity was present.
- The answers were compared with national minimum criteria.
- If at least one criterion was met, the unit was classified as an agricultural holding, and the full interview (long questionnaire) was then conducted.
What is the definition of an agricultural holding?
This is the technical and economic unit of production consisting of one or more parcels of land, including unused land, independent of titles to the land, which is located in one or more places and intended for use in whole or in part for agricultural activities (crops, animal husbandry and bees) under the responsibility of one person (physical or legal) or under responsibility jointly with others.
What qualifies as an agricultural holding?
One criterion was enough. Ten chickens, one cow, or a hundred square metres of cassava made a household an agricultural holding.
Counts as a holding if any one of these is true
Crops and land
0.01 ha annual crops, semi-permanent crops or fallow land
0.05 ha permanent crops
0.5 ha pastures or meadows
20 m² ornamental plants or flowers for sale, or leek, celery and shallot
Livestock and bee-keeping
1 head of cattle
2 goats, sheep or pigs — or 1 sow
10 chickens, or 10 ducks, geese or turkeys
5 beehives
Which activities were excluded from the count as agricultural holdings?
- Forestry, logging, hunting, or processing without own agricultural production
- Breeding of domestic animals (dogs, cats, etc.) and sale of animals without own production
- Parks and public gardens
One country, three field strategies
The same approach would not work everywhere. Agricultural activity, spreading of villages, travel distances, and accessibility differ greatly between the Coastal area, Paramaribo, and the interior.
-
Coastal area and accessible areas
Complete coverage
Fieldworkers covered Wanica, Commewijne, Saramacca, Coronie, Nickerie, Para, and the accessible part of Marowijne used two approaches: accessible coastal areas were covered completely, while remote interior villages were selected. completely.
Fieldworkers went door to door, screening every household and organization. Every agricultural holding that met the criteria received the full questionnaire.
-
Paramaribo
Selected enumeration blocks
Agriculture is more scattered in Paramaribo. Fieldworkers therefore visited 47 of Paramaribo’s 472 enumeration blocks—about one in ten.
Each household and agricultural holding within a selected enumeration block was approached.
-
The interior
Selected villages
Travel distances and access make visiting every village impractical. Villages were therefore selected in Brokopondo, Sipaliwini, and the remote part of Marowijne used two approaches: accessible coastal areas were covered completely, while remote interior villages were selected..
The largest villages were always included. In every selected village, all households were screened.
How the wider picture is calculated
How selected areas can represent others
Selected enumeration blocks and villages were chosen using a structured method, not simply because they were easy to reach.
-
Select areas
Enumeration blocks or villages are selected in a way that reflects the whole district.
-
Visit everyone there
Within every selected area, fieldworkers screen all households and interview every qualifying agricultural holding.
-
Calculate the wider result
During analysis, those answers receive the correct share based on how much of the district each selected area represents.
Combined with the completely covered areas, this produces reliable district and national results without requiring fieldworkers to visit every remote or urban location.
What did the interview look like?
Interviews were conducted face-to-face and answers entered directly on a tablet. The interview followed a clear order, showing follow-up questions only when a criterion is met.
How a conversation progressed
-
A short first check
The first questions asked whether anyone in the household grew crops, raised animals or bees, or practised aquaculture in 2024. The fieldworker then checked whether the activity was large enough to be included.
-
Describe the agricultural holding
Where did the activities take place? Was the holding managed by one person, several people, or an organization? And who was the holder or manager?
-
Land and production
The interview continued with total area, parcels/plots, land use, crops, and irrigation. Livestock keepers were asked which animals were present on the reference day and how many.
-
People and resources
It also covered the people working on the holding, machinery used, buildings, financial support, and the manager’s agricultural education.
-
Review and finish
Before closing the interview, the tablet helped the fieldworker check missing or unusual answers. The respondent could also add comments.
Two years of work before the first interview
An agricultural census looks like three months of fieldwork. Almost two years of preparation came first: every question was written, discussed, tested with farmers, rewritten, and tested again.
From first draft to nationwide fieldwork
March 2023
The design starts
The Ministry and the FAO review the 2008 questionnaire, compare it with international standards, and add what matters now: buildings and structures, aquaponics and women’s rights to agricultural land.
Through 2023
Asking the specialists
Consultation with the Ministry’s divisions, the ressort offices, and FAO census specialists. Crop lists, animal species, and land-use categories are rewritten to match how people actually farm in Suriname.
Sept – Oct 2023
Learning the tablet system
An FAO expert spends ten days training Ministry staff to build and supervise a census on tablets. The Ministry had never collected data fully digitally before.
November 2023
The first real interviews
The working group takes the draft questionnaire to 50 farmers in Wanica, in two rounds. Questions that read well at a desk turn out to need rewriting in the field.
20 May – 9 June 2024
A full dress rehearsal
Twenty staff run a complete pilot census across twelve enumeration blocks in Commewijne and Marowijne, including river crossings by boat. Questions, tablets, training, workload, and logistics are all tested in practice.
Late 2024
Ready for the whole country
The questionnaire is revised once more, the tablet programme rebuilt to match, and the training materials finished. Nationwide fieldwork begins in January 2025.
From answers to trusted statistics
A completed questionnaire did not immediately become a final figure. The answers passed through several checks before entering the results.
-
During the interview
The tablet flagged missing, impossible, or unusual answers.
-
Supervisor review
Supervisors reviewed questionnaires and returned them for follow-up when needed.
-
Cleaning and comparison
The data monitoring team looked for duplicates, missing information, and answers that did not match.
-
Independent recheck
A separate follow-up in selected areas checked whether holdings were missed or counted twice.
-
Safe publication
Personal information remains protected; the website shows only combined results.
Each step reduced the chance of an error reaching the final figures.
A foundation for what comes next
The census is not an endpoint. It created an up-to-date list of agricultural holdings. This allows smaller surveys to run more often, at lower cost and with fewer questions for farmers.
The starting point
2025 Agricultural Census
A new national benchmark and an up-to-date list of agricultural holdings.
More frequent information
Shorter crop and livestock surveys can follow changes every year.
Less burden on farmers
Only a smaller group of agricultural holdings needs to be contacted for each focused survey.
Make change visible
New figures can be compared with 2025 to show where agriculture is changing.
The next step is already underway
April 2026The first annual crop and livestock survey using the new census list was conducted.
Governance and partners
The Sixth Agricultural Census was a national operation led by the Ministry and supported by national and international partners.
Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries
Leadership & implementation
Including the Census Working Group, ressort offices, fieldworkers, and supervisors.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Technical support
Support for methodology, training, the digital questionnaire, and data processing.
Inter-American Development Bank
Financial support
Through the Sustainable Agricultural Productivity Program (SU-L1052).
Government of Suriname E-gov Department
Digital infrastructure
The digital environment used for secure receipt and storage of the data.
Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture
Operational oversight
Hosts the IDB Project Executing Unit that monitors and facilitates project implementation.
