The World Programme for the Census of Agriculture (WCA) is an international programme led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) that supports the implementation of national censuses of agriculture on a 10-year basis through the use of standard concepts, definitions and methodology.[1] The WCA was developed in the years 1929–1930 by the International Institute of Agriculture (IIA).[2][3] Governments from many countries agreed to promote a coordinated implementation of censuses of agriculture around the world on a basis as uniform as possible. The WCA 1929–1930 constituted the first world census of agriculture round and was implemented in about 60 countries. The subsequent 1940 round could not be completed due to the onset of World War II. Following the dissolution of the IIA in 1946, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) took over the programme and launched in 1948 the WCA 1950 as well as the successive decennial programmes.[4] Seven decennial rounds – in 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2020 – have been promoted by FAO. The current WCA 2020 is the tenth decennial international census of agriculture round and covers the censuses of agriculture to be carried out by countries between 2016 and 2025.[1]
In each decennial WCA, FAO supports member countries to carry out their national censuses of agriculture through the development and dissemination of up-to-date international standards, concepts, definitions and methodologies as well as technical assistance. Technical assistance involves capacity building in planning, designing and implementing censuses of agriculture.
:0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).