The Central Statistical Agency (CSA) has released data from the Ethiopia Socioeconomic Survey (ESS) carried out alongside the World Bank last month

The survey, a joint project between the World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) and the Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency (CSA), included data on agricultural practices, as well as other indicators of socioeconomic well being.

The project is the eighth of its kind in Africa, with the World Bank having implemented similar programmes in Burkina Faso, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda.

“This data can be used both directly by the government to help inform policy makers, and by local researchers and analysts to better inform policy dialogue,” said Biratu Yigezu, director general of the CSA.

The first round of data was collected from around 4,000 rural households in 2011 and 2012, with a second round taken from the same families in the period 2013 to 2014, along with information from a further 1,500 urban households.

“Because the survey is designed to follow the same households over time, we are better able to learn what factors, policies, and programmes help people to improve their productivity and wellbeing,” said Amare Legesse, deputy director general of the CSA.