ZimStat Planning An Estimated $1,4 Billion Census Mapping Exercise

Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) in preparation of the August 2022 census, will be taking Cartographic census mapping exercise that will consume an estimated cost of about $1.3 billion according to the Zimstat Director-General Tagume Mahonde.
The Director-General told the journalists last Friday that such a population and housing census is a very expensive exercise.

“We are doing the mapping exercise that involves dividing every ward of Zimbabwe into small units that we call enumeration areas and this is done physically by people on the ground,” Mahonde explained.
“So we are saying they are mappers that will need to be in every ward to subdivide each ward into these enumeration areas and it is these enumeration areas that will help us in planning for the actual census.”

The overall objective of a cartographic census mapping exercise is to provide an updated digital geospatial database for enumeration areas that can be used as a basis for the census planning process, census data collection and development of sampling frames for surveys, and dissemination of census data/results according to the Director-General.

“The mapping exercise is carried out at least two and a half years prior to the Population and Housing Census,” he said.
“The Census Cartographic field mapping exercise is carried out at the pre-enumeration stage of the Population and Housing Census.”
“Cartographic census field mapping of enumeration areas is a sine qua non ( absolutely necessary) of a successful census operation,” Mahonde went on.

Zimbabwe’s 2022 population census will be the fifth population census since independence in 1980, with earlier censuses having been conducted in 1982, 1992, 2002 and 2012.

“The 2019 Cartographic Census Mapping exercise comes at a time when globally, as per United Nations (UN) recommendations for the 2020 round of Population and Housing Censuses, most countries are shifting towards the use of mobile devices in data collection in both cartographic census mapping and actual census enumeration. Given this background, Zimbabwe is focusing on following the global trend of the use of mobile devices for mapping and data collection during census enumeration,” Mahonde said.