ZIMBABWE’S population is projected to be nearly 17 million, growing by nearly four million in the last 10 years from 13 million recorded during the 2012 national census, the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) has said.
Last year, ZimStat conducted a census mapping exercise
which projected the population to be now at 16,9 million.
These include 8,8 million females and 8,1 million males.
The 2012 census put the country’s population at 13 061 239;
6 780 700 females and 6 280 539 males.
ZimStat is expected to conduct another census this year.
It will use the Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing
(CAPI) technique in capturing data from members of the public.
There will be 50 000 enumerators each with a tablet to
capture information digitally while about 300 motorcycles will be procured for
data collection in remote areas.
Results will inform policymakers on how to make projections
for the country.
ZimStat public relations and communication manager Ms Mercy
Chidemo said the pre-census mapping exercise which ended last week projected
that the country now has nearly 17 million people.
“The projected 2022 Population number is 16 980 513 with 8 810 090 females and 8 170 423
males,” she said.
Ms Chidemo said the agency has completed its pre-census
mapping exercise and is now recruiting census field workers.
“We now have the enumeration areas and we are now moving
into training for the level one teams.
Starting this month, we will be training national
supervisors and trainers who will train the enumerators.
Most of the recruitment is being done from the public
service.
And all the recruitment is being done this month for the
enumerators, the supervisors and information communication technology experts,”
said Ms Chidemo.
ZimStat is targeting to recruit 50 000 enumerators who will
conduct the census exercise from April 21 to April 30 this year.
Bulawayo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Permanent
Secretary Mr Paul Nyoni said the census is important as it will inform the
country’s policy direction.
“We can’t plan without measuring. Census is what tells us
what we are planning for, what we need to provide and what the future looks
like.
Remember census does not just add up people, it looks at
growth and other things.
So, you can then project and say we need x number of
schools in the future and x number of hospitals.
It determines the demands of resources that are allocated
in accordance to the growing number of the population,” said Mr Nyoni.
He said at a political level, the census will determine the
level of representation that a community will have.
“In other words, it will determine the number of wards and
the number of constituencies that an area will have.
It is crucial that everyone is counted.
It is not child’s play or any kind of projection but we all
need to be counted for communities to get resources,” he said.
Presenting the 2022 national budget last year, Finance and
Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said the Covid-19 pandemic
had affected the census preparatory exercise.
“The budget is therefore setting aside $3 billion towards
the preparation and conduct of the 2022 Population and Housing Census.
Chronicle
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