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 Administrator 1969 1979 1989 1999

Unit
Kenya President 1 1 1 1

Provinces Provincial 8 8 8 8
Commissioner
Districts District 41 41 45 69
Commissioner
Divisions District Officer 154 184 260 497

Locations Chief 567 618 1,099 2,427

Sub Locations Assistant 2,410 3.111 3,553 6,612

Chiefs
Enumeration 20,000 25,000 36,979 61,921
Areas
 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 No of Digits Administrative Codes
Unit Unit
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 06020101010043

Code
 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
made
The 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 areas
 Numbering of EAs
 Mapping 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

THANK YOU