I. Introduction
The Census of Agriculture and Fisheries (CAF) is a large-scale government undertaking, geared towards the collection and compilation of basic information on the agriculture and fishery sectors in the Philippines. Over the years, the CAF has been a source of comprehensive statistics on agriculture for the use of the general public, government, business industry, research, and academic institutions.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) conducted the 2022 CAF among households and non-household entities that operated agriculture, aquaculture, and fishing activities from 01 January to 31 December 2022. Household interviews for the 2022 CAF was conducted in September 2023.
The 2022 CAF was the seventh in a series of decennial agricultural census and the sixth in the decennial census of fisheries in the country since the first census in 1903. It was designed to collect the structural characteristics of the agricultural and fishery sectors in the country.
The Philippine Standard Geographic Code (PSGC), as of December 2022 was used to disaggregate geographic levels of the 2022 CAF.
II. Data Limitation
The statistics presented in this report were based on the information provided by the respondent or any responsible household member who may provide accurate answers to the questions and give correct information about the aquaculture and fisheries activities operated during the reference period.
Likewise, the statistics presented are based on responses from all households in 16,020 sample barangays in the country, which represent about 38 percent of the 42,022 total barangays in the country as of December 2022.
III. Objectives
The 2022 CAF is envisioned to achieve the following objectives:
- Determine the structural characteristics of agriculture and fishery sectors in the country.
- Provide sampling frame for the conduct of periodic agricultural and fishery surveys.
- Provide basic data on agricultural, aquaculture, and fishing characteristics for use in the government’s national and local development planning.
- Provide data on the agricultural, aquaculture, and fishery facilities and services available in the barangay.
IV. Methodology
SCOPE AND COVERAGE
The household interviews in the 2022 CAF were conducted in sample barangays. In each sample barangay, all households were listed to identify if any household members were engaged in operating crop, livestock, poultry (including insect or worm farming), aquafarms, or fishing operations. Subsequently, all identified households with agricultural, aquaculture, or fishing operators for the period of 01 January to 31 December 2022, were enumerated using Computer-Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) method. In some areas, Paper and Pen Personal Interview (PAPI) method was used.
The data on secured rights on agricultural land were collected using CAF Form 2 (Household Questionnaire) among households of agricultural operators. The enumerators asked for each household member aged 15 years old and over the following questions to determine if a household member owns or has secured rights to agricultural land:
| Item No. | Question |
|---|---|
| 2C07 | During the period January 01 to December 31, 2022, did ___ have agricultural lands, that is: a. fully owned (with title), b. in owner-like possession (inherited, purchased without title yet, purchased on installment or long-term contract), c. under Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA), Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT), Certificate of Ancestral Land Title (CALT), or Certificate of Stewardship Agreement (CSA)/ Certificate of Stewardship Contract (CSC), d. under Community-Based Forest Management Agreement (CBFMA), Integrated Forest Management Agreement (IFMA), Forest Land Grazing Management Agreement (FLGA), or Special Land Use Permit (SLUP), e. tenanted, f. leased/rented, or g. under other land tenure? |
| 2C08 | During the period January 01 to December 31, 2022, did ___ use the agricultural lands in operating any agricultural activity? |
| 2C09 | During the period January 01 to December 31, 2022, was there a formal document for the agricultural land you or your household own or hold secure rights that is issued by the Philippine Land Registration Authority or any government agency such as Transfer Certificate of Title, deed of sale, legal heir or succession certificate, Certificate of Hereditary Acquisition, lease, or rental contract, etc.? |
| 2C10 | During the period January 01 to December 31, 2022, was ___’s name listed in any of the documents as owner or holder of secured rights over any of these agricultural lands? |
| 2C11 | Does ___ have the right to sell the agricultural land, either alone or jointly with someone else? |
| 2C12 | Does ___ have the right to bequeath this to another person? |
Right to Sell
It refers to the ability of an individual to permanently transfer the asset in question in return for cash or in-kind benefits.
Right to Bequeath
It refers to the ability of an individual to pass on the asset in question to another person after his/her death, by written will, or intestate succession.
These data items align with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5.a.1 – Women’s Ownership of Agricultural Land, which aims to provide the following indicators:
(a) The percentage of people with ownership or secure rights over agricultural land (out of the total agricultural population), disaggregated by sex; and
(b) The share of women among owners or rights-bearers of agricultural land, categorized by type of tenure.
A household member was considered to have secure rights to agricultural land if they met any of the following criteria:
▪ His/her name was listed in any document as the owner or holder of secure rights over agricultural land;
▪ He/she had the right to sell the agricultural land; and/or
▪ He/she had the right to bequeath the agricultural land to another person.
Additionally, the agricultural land must have been operated or utilized for any agricultural activity such as growing of crops, raising of livestock/poultry, and/or culturing of insects/worms from 01 January to 31 December 2022.
For international comparability, the data on ownership or secure rights to agricultural land was tabulated for household members aged 18 years and older.
B. Sampling Scheme
The 2022 CAF sampling design for the household data collection considers provinces and highly urbanized cities (HUCs) as the domains, barangays as the primary sampling units (PSUs), and households (and operators) as the secondary sampling units (SSUs). Barangays were selected using simple random sampling without replacement (SRSWOR) and all households in a selected sample barangay were completely enumerated.
The design included a two-way stratification of barangays based on the number of agriculture (growing of crops, livestock raising, and poultry raising) operators and the number of fishing (aquaculture, municipal fishing, and commercial fishing) operators as the stratification variables. This stratification was based on the number of operators from the
2012 CAF and 2017 Updating of List of Aquaculture Farms (ULAF). Barangays were categorized into Low, Medium, and High groups based on generated cut-offs using the adjacent means algorithm. Barangays without agriculture or fisheries operators from the 2012 CAF were placed in a fourth stratum (None).
The cross-classification of these two stratification schemes determined the final stratum for each barangay, as illustrated in the table below:
All barangays in Stratum "H" were completely enumerated (100%), while a 50.0 percent sample was selected from Stratum "M", and a 5.0 percent sample from Stratum "L".
Sample selection of barangays was conducted for all provinces and highly urbanized cities (HUCs), except the National Capital Region (NCR), where districts were used as the domain. Additionally, three provinces (Pangasinan, Iloilo excluding Iloilo City, and Bukidnon) were purposively selected for full enumeration.
Furthermore, one to two additional sample barangays were purposively selected in each city and municipality where only one or no sample barangay had been initially selected. This process ensured that there were at least two sample barangays in all cities and municipalities across the country. The selection of these additional barangays considered the prevalence of agriculture and fisheries activities in the area.
C. Weights Computation
The base weight for each domain is given by:
The base weight was adjusted to account for the stratum jumper due to the changes in the number of agricultural and fisheries operators.
The adjusted weight formula is given as follows:
D. Estimation Procedure
In each domain, which is the province/HUC, there are three strata (High, Medium, and Low) based on the number of agriculture operators and fisheries operators.
Since all households (hence, operators) are completely enumerated in a sample barangay,
The estimate of total for the domain (province/HUC) for indicator I is:
Variance is given by:
Note that 
and 
can be adjusted with actual number of barangays that provides a non-zero value for the indicator I. The weights are then computed as follows:
For Stratum 1: 
(since stratum 1 is the certainty stratum, all barangays are completely enumerated)
For Stratum 2 and 3: 
(same weights for all samples within the same stratum since samples are drawn using simple random sampling without replacement.)
No additional component of variance is added to variance of estimates from sampling of operators since all operators are completely enumerated in a sample barangay.
V. Computation of Indicator of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 5.a.1
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 5.a undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws.
SDG 5.a.1 are those agricultural population with legally recognized documents of ownership of agricultural land or the right to sell it or the right to bequeath it over the total agricultural population.
Indicator 5.a.1
a. Percentage of people with ownership or secure rights over agricultural land (out of total agricultural population), by sex
b. Share of women among owners or rights-bearers of agricultural land, by type of tenure
VI. Definition of Terms and Concepts
Household
A household is a social unit consisting of a person or a group of persons who sleep in the same housing unit and have a common arrangement in preparing and consuming food.
Agricultural Population
Agricultural Population refers to the members of the household engaged in operating agricultural activities or the household with at least one member engaged in operating agricultural activities during a specific reference period.
Agricultural populations with ownership or secure rights
Agricultural populations with ownership or secure rights over agricultural land/parcel refer to the adult members of agricultural households aged 18 years old and over, who own or are rights-bearers of agricultural land/parcel used in operating agricultural activities during a specific reference period.
Agricultural Operator
An agricultural operator is a civil or juridical person who/that exercises management control over the agricultural operation of a farm and takes major decisions regarding resource use. He/she has technical and economic responsibility for the farm and may undertake all responsibilities directly, that is, he/she operates the farm or delegates responsibilities related to day-to-day work management to a hired manager. Economic responsibility means a major decision in using the finances in operating the farm.
An agricultural operator could be the owner or tenant/lessee of the farm who is solely responsible for making the major decisions of the operation of the agricultural farm, including the management and supervision of hired labor.
Agricultural Holding/Farm
An agricultural holding/farm is any piece or pieces of land used wholly or partly for any agricultural activity such as growing of crops, tending of livestock/poultry and other agricultural activities and operated as one technical unit by one person alone or with others regardless of title, legal form, size or location. An agricultural holding/farm operated as one technical unit means that the piece/s of land is/are operated under a single management and that the financial resources needed for the operation of the agricultural holding/farm come from the said management. Generally, an agricultural holding/farm operated as one technical unit has the same factors of production such as land, labor, farm structures, machinery, work animals, etc. Single management means one individual or household or jointly by two or more individuals or households or by a juridical person such as a corporation, cooperative or government agency operates and manages the agricultural holding/farm.
Parcel
A parcel is one contiguous piece of land under one form of tenure without regard to land use. Both the contiguity and one form of tenure conditions should be met for a piece of land to be classified as one parcel.
Contiguous means that the piece of land is not separated by natural or manmade boundaries. A parcel may be surrounded by other lands, water, road, forest or other features that are not part of the farm or part of the farm under different land tenure.
Examples of natural boundaries are river, dike, lake, mountain, forest, and any physical features of the land that are not part of the farm. Meanwhile, example of manmade boundaries are road, political boundaries (e.g., barangay, municipal, and provincial borders), houses, irrigation canal, and any man-made structures that are not part of the farm.
Tenure Status of the Parcel
It is the right under which a parcel is held or operated. A farm may be operated under a single form of tenure or under more than one form, in which case each form of tenure must be reported separately by parcel.
A parcel may have any of the following tenure status:
| Fully owned | A land operated with a title of ownership in the name of the holder and consequently, the right to determine the nature and extent of the use of the land. Included in this category are lands whose absolute ownership is vested in the holder through sale or inheritance. A parcel, which is a part of the farm, is also considered fully owned if the holder has an absolute deed to the sale of the land. Likewise, lands of the tillers with Emancipation Patent are considered fully owned. |
Owner-like possession | A land under conditions that enable a person to operate it as if he/she is the owner although he/she does not possess a document as proof of title of ownership. A land under owner-like possession includes those that are held under heirship which the document as proof of title of ownership has not been transferred to the heirs. Also included in this category are inherited lands without document as proof of title of ownership and those held under tax declaration. Further, this category also includes areas without legal title of ownership which is operated uncontestably and uninterruptedly by the holder for a period of 30 years or more, even without the permission of the owner, and lands being purchased on installment basis or under long-term contract. |
| Held under Certificate of Land Transfer (CLT) or Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) | A land still being paid by the holder under the government land reform program of Operation Land Transfer (OLT). OLT is a systematic transfer of ownership of tenanted rice and corn lands from the landowners to the tenant-tillers while CLOA are titles issued to farmers for their farm lot as covered by Republic Act 6657 otherwise known as Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law. It must be noted that this category covers only those that are currently paying their amortization. |
| Held under Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT)/ Certificate of Ancestral Land Title (CALT) | A land possessed by the Indigenous Cultural Communities/ Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs) in accordance with Republic Act 8371 of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997. CADT refers to a title formally recognizing the rights of possession and ownership of ICCs/IPs over their ancestral domains identified and delineated in accordance with RA 8371. This also includes lands of ICCs/IPs held under the Memorandum of Usufruct (MOU). According to the Civil Code of the Philippines, the usufruct is entitled to all the benefits he may enjoy or get from the property but limits the right of ownership. |
| Certificate of Stewardship Agreement (CSA)/ Certificate of Stewardship Contract (CSC) | The Certificate of Stewardship Contract is a contract issued by Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to individual occupants in the Integrated Social Forestry (ISF) areas before the implementation of the CBFM program in 1996 pursuant to Letter of Instruction 1260 which provide tenure over the parcel of forestland for a period of 25 years, renewable for another 25 years. |
| Held under Community-Based Forest Management Agreement (CBFMA)/ Integrated Forest Management Agreement (IFMA)/ Forest Land Grazing Management Agreement (FLGA)/ Special Land Use Permit (SLUP) | CBFMA is also a production sharing agreement between (and entered into by) the government and the local community, represented by participating people’s organization as forest managers for a period of 25 years renewable for another 25 years, and shall provide tenurial security and incentives to develop, utilize, and manage specific portions of forest lands. IFMA is an agreement entered into by the DENR and a qualified person to occupy and possess in consideration of a specified rental, any forestland of the public domain in order to establish an industrial forest. FLGA is a production sharing agreement between a qualified person, association and/or corporation and the government to develop, manage, and utilize grazing lands. SLUP is a privilege granted by the State to a person to occupy, possess, and manage in consideration of specified return, any public forest lands for a specific use or purpose for a limited period of not more than three years. |
| Tenanted | A land cultivated by a person, belonging to, or possessed by another, with the latter’s consent for purposes of production, sharing the produce with the landholder under the share tenancy system, or paying to the landholder a certain amount of produce (payment in kind or in money or both), under a leasehold tenancy system. |
| Leased/ Rented | A land cultivated by a lessee, which belongs to or is legally possessed by another, the lessor. The rental payment is in the form of a fixed amount of either money, produce or both. |
| Other Tenure Status | Other tenure includes the following: Mortgage – refers to land under contract or agreement (either written or verbal) through which the ownership of the land is transferred to the mortgagee/creditor. However, the mortgagor/debtor still holds the right to redeem the property by paying off the debt at a later time. Rent-free – a land operated without title of ownership and without paying rent but with the consent or permission of the landowner. Other tenure includes public lands, communal grazing lands, lands occupied without consent of owner for less than 30 years, Agricultural Free Patent issued by DENR, and forest land occupied by a person without any agreement with the DENR. |
VII. Authority for the Conduct of the 2022 CAF
Republic Act (RA) No. 10625 (Philippine Statistical Act of 2013), which was approved on 12 September 2013, states that “the PSA shall be primarily responsible for all national censuses and surveys, sectoral statistics, consolidation of administrative recording system, and compilation of national accounts”. Specifically, Section 6(b) of this Act mandates the PSA to “prepare and conduct periodic censuses on population, housing, agriculture, fisheries, business, industry, and other sectors of the economy”.
Executive Order (EO) No. 352 (Designation of Statistical Activities that Will Generate Critical Data for Decision-Making of the Government and the Private Sector) provides for the conduct of CAF every 10 years with the objective of providing government planners and policymakers with data on which to base their plans for the country’s development.
VIII. Data Privacy
RA No. 10173 (Data Privacy Act of 2012) stipulates, that “It is the policy of the State to protect the fundamental human right of privacy, of communication while ensuring free flow of information to promote innovation and growth. The State recognizes the vital role of information and communications technology in nation-building and its inherent obligation to ensure that personal data in information and communications systems in the government and in the private sector are secured and protected”.
Corollary to the above, Section 4(e) of RA No. 10173 states that the right of privacy does not apply to “information necessary in order to carry out the functions of public authority, which includes the processing of personal data for the performance by the independent agencies of their constitutionally and statutorily mandated functions”. Moreover, Section 12(e) of this Act states that the processing of personal information shall be permitted only if not otherwise prohibited by law, and when the processing is necessary in order to fulfill functions of public authority, which necessarily includes the processing of personal data for the fulfillment of its mandate. Further, Section 19 of RA No. 10173 provides for the non-applicability of the rights of the data subject if the processed personal information is used only for the needs of scientific and statistical research and on the basis of such, no activities are carried out and no decisions are taken regarding the data subject.
IX. Confidentiality of Information
All personnel involved in the conduct of 2022 CAF are required to keep in STRICT CONFIDENCE any information obtained during the census that pertains to any particular household, individual person, or establishment/organization.
Section 26 of RA No. 10625 stipulates that “individual data furnished by a respondent to statistical inquiries, surveys, and censuses conducted by the PSA shall be considered PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION and as such shall be inadmissible as evidence in any proceeding”. This section also specifies that “the PSA release data gathered from censuses only in the form of summaries or statistical tables, in which no reference to an individual, corporation, association, partnership, institution or business enterprise shall appear”.
Paragraph 3 of Section 27 of RA No. 10625 further states that “a person, including parties within the PSA Board and the PSA, who breach the confidentiality of information, whether by carelessness, improper behavior, behavior with malicious intent, and use of confidential information for profit shall be liable to a fine of five thousand pesos (PhP 5,000.00) to not more than ten thousand pesos (PhP 10,000.00) and/or imprisonment of three months but not to exceed one year, subject to the degree of breach of information”.
Section 19 of RA No. 10173 states that the personal information shall be held under STRICT CONFIDENTIALITY and shall be used only for the declared purpose. Likewise, the provisions on data privacy are not applicable to processing of personal information gathered for the purpose of investigations in relation to any criminal, administrative, or tax liabilities of a data subject.
Moreover, Section 20(e) of RA No. 10173 stipulates that "the employees, agents, or representatives of a personal information controller who are involved in the processing of personal information shall operate and hold personal information under STRICT CONFIDENTIALITY if the personal information are not intended for public disclosure. This obligation shall continue even after leaving the public service, transfer to another position or upon termination of employment or contractual relations".
Sections 26 to 29 of RA No. 10173 also assert that the breach in the confidentiality of information, whether negligence, improper disposal, behavior with malicious intent, unauthorized access or intentional breach, and unauthorized disclosure, shall be penalized by imprisonment ranging from six months to seven years and a fine of not less than one hundred thousand pesos (PhP 100,000.00) but not more than seven million pesos (PhP 7,000,000.00), depending on the acts defined in these Sections.
Also, in compliance with RA No. 10173, individual personal information collected from the census shall be secured and protected. Necessary data security measures such as, but not limited to, data encryption, data anonymity, and other data protection methods shall be employed to prevent unintended disclosure and data theft.
X. Comparability of 2022 CAF with Past Censuses
The 1960, 1971, 1980, 1991, 2002, 2012, and 2022 Census of Agriculture used the same concepts, definitions, scope and coverage. However, some differences in the reference periods and sample design should be taken into account when comparing data across the census years.
XI. Dissemination of Results
The 2022 CAF preliminary release and statistical tables are publicly available at the PSA website, https://psa.gov.ph/statistics/caf
XII. Citation
Philippine Statistics Authority. Technical Notes, 2022 Census of Agriculture and Fisheries, https://psa.gov.ph/statistics/caf/technical-notes
XII. Contact Information
ERMA A. AQUINO
Chief Statistical Specialist
Agriculture and Fisheries Census Division
National Censuses Service
Censuses and Technical Coordination Office
(02) 8376-1903
e.aquino@psa.gov.ph
For data requests, you may contact:
SIMONETTE A. NISPEROS
Information Officer V
Knowledge Management and Communications Division
Information Technology and Dissemination Service
Censuses and Technical Coordination Office
(02) 8462-6600 loc. 820
info@psa.gov.ph | kmcd.staff@psa.gov.ph
