USE OF GIS IN CENSUS MANAGEMENT AND MAPPING: THE

KENYAN EXPERIENCE

Presented by

Joseph Nyangaya Ndubi

Kenya National Bureau of Statistics

Introduction

• First census in Kenya was taken in 1948

• Followed by others in: 1962, 1969, 1979, 1989 and 1999

• From 1969 to date, Kenya has undertaken censuses after every 10 years

Introduction

The country is organized into 5 hierarchical levels of administration ranging from:

• Provinces, Districts, Divisions, Locations and Sub Locations

• Villages are small units or entities within the sub location

• Villages form the basis upon which the Enumeration Areas (EAs) are created

• Census results are reported based on this arrangement

Introduction• Census maps first used in 1962 census• In the rural areas, maps at medium and small scales

were used• In urban areas, large scale maps were used• There was great improvement in the maps used from

1979 to 1999 • Large to medium scale maps used in the agriculturally

high potential areas• Sparsely populated Arid and semi arid areas are

covered on 1:25000 scale

Introduction

Importance of maps• Assist to delineate the country into small

manageable units or EAs• Facilitate in assigning EAs to Enumerators• Enable enumerators to plan their movement

within the EA• Help in budgeting

• Help in presenting the census results

Introduction

• GIS first introduced in the 1999 census mapping• Project was not very successful due to a number

of constraints as explained latter in this presentation

• Census in Kenya is carried out under the Statistics Act

• The act empowers KNBS to carry out censuses and other Social Economic Sample Surveys for collecting data

Kenya: Administrative Provinces

The 2009 Kenya Population Census

Planning When planning for the 2009 Census, much was

borrowed from the 1999 Census on determining the requirements for:

• Personnel• Materials• Equipment

The Census Geographic Frame

Created based on: • The country hierarchical Administrative structure• Has Provinces, Districts, Divisions, Locations

and Sub Locations• Semi official villages are small units within the

sub locations• EAs are created within the sub locations based

on villages• An EA has 49 to 150 households and must not

cross the administrative boundaries.

Census Geographic Frame

• Due to rapid population increase and change in settlement patterns, the government continuously reviews boundaries of administrative units

• Hence the need to update the administrative boundaries and create EAs prior to a census

• During mapping all the units to EA level are assigned unique identifiers or codes

• The codes help in data processing to manage census documents and thereafter, to retrieve and manipulate data

Changes in the No. Administrative Units

Number of Administrative Units and EAs

Administrative Unit

Administrator 1969 1979 1989 1999

Kenya President 1 1 1 1

Provinces Provincial Commissioner

8 8 8 8

Districts District Commissioner

41 41 45 69

Divisions District Officer 154 184 260 497

Locations Chief 567 618 1,099 2,427

Sub Locations Assistant Chiefs

2,410 3.111 3,553 6,612

Enumeration Areas

20,000 25,000 36,979 61,921

Geographical Area Coding

• This is a process of assigning unique identifiers to all Administrative Units and the EAs

• The settlements are classified as either:- Rural, Urban, peri Urban and formal or non formal

• The political units are also coded• The Geo-coding should be sound• Helps in retrieving, analyzing and manipulating

data

Geo-Coding Frame

Administrative Unit

No of Digits Administrative Unit

Codes

Province 2 Nyanza 06

District 2 Bondo 02

Division 2 Maranda 01

Location 2 Bondo Township 01

Sub Location 2 Ajigo 01

EA 4 Misinjiro 0043

Total 14 Complete EA Code

06020101010043

2009 Pre-Census Activities

• 2009 Census Proposal Paper prepared and adopted by Government in July 2006 for implementation

• Planning for Cartographic Field mapping done• An Inventory of existing materials and equipment

taken• List of required materials prepared• Some of the items already procured • Other items not yet procured

Use GIS in Managing and Mapping the

2009 Census • A review of the use of GIS in the 1999 Census

madeThe constraints that hampered its success were

identified as follows:-• Late Acquisition of the GIS facility • Inadequate software user licenses• Poor maintenance of the GIS facility• High cost of maintenance contract• Lack of adequate personnel with appropriate

skills

Use GIS in Managing and Mapping the 2009 Census (Cont)

• But it was realized that GIS held great potential in solving some of the problems associated with lack of availability of current base maps with appropriate scales.

• Mapping the urban slum areas

Use GIS in Managing and Mapping the 2009 Census (Cont)

So to address the above constraints the following have been undertaken:-

• Training

• Upgrading of the GIS facility

• Maintenance Service Contract signed

• Integrated use of satellite images, Aerial photographs and GPS with conventional base maps

Field mapping for 2009 census

Implementation

• Preparation of mapping manuals

• Training of mapping assistants on:Mapping of rural areasNumbering of EAsMapping of urban areas

Field mapping for 2009 census (Cont)

• Mapping of arid and semi arid areas

• Mapping of national parks, forests, and other special areas

• Composition of mapping teams

Field mapping for 2009 census (Cont)

Work Schedule up to June 2009 Nyanza and Western provinces were

supposed to have been covered but will now be completed by end of this October

Work is already running behind schedule due to:

Delay in disbursement of funds Lack of vehicles sufficient vehicles Delay in obtaining imageries for the urban areas

Data capture, map preparation and production

• The process is on going but pace has been slow

• The personnel carrying out field mapping are also engaged in map preparation

• More staff to be hired to hasten the process

Printing, Packaging and dispatch

• Printing, Packaging and dispatch of final maps will be done starting early 2009

Field mapping for 2009 census

T H A N K Y O U