There are two main entrances into the Afram Plains District. The
first is a road linking Nkawkaw-Mpraeso-Bepong-Kwahu and Tafo which
terminates at Adawso from where the three kilometer wide Afram River is
crossed to Ekye-Amanfrom by a ferry operated by the Volta Lake Transport
Company (VLTC). The second entrance is through Kpandu-Torkor in the
Volta Region from where the Volta Lake is again crossed by
one-and-a-half-hour portion journey to dock at Agordeke from where one
can travel by road through Amankwaa and Adiembra to the District
capital, Donkorkrom.
There is another minor entrance into the district from Atebubu in the
Brong Ahafo Region into Ntonaboma, which was ceded out of the Atebubu
District and put administratively, under the Afram Plains District. It
is necessary to mention here that the Ntonaboma Traditional Councils and
other chieftaincy affairs in the area are handled by the Brong Ahafo
Regional House of Chiefs. Internally, there is another smaller portion
that links Ntonaboma to the rest of the Afram Plains through New
Kyeiase.
Geology
The District has geology described as principally Upper Voltaian
sandstones consisting of coarse and fine-grained massive sandstones that
are thin bedded, flaggy, impure, ferruginous or feldspathic and locally
inter-bedded with shales and mudstone. The sandstones are found along
the boundary margins whiles shales and mudstones outcrop within the
central part of the District from below the sandstone bed.
Relief
The District has generally low lying lands that rise from 60 metres to
120 metres above sea level. The only high ground is the Donkorkrom
plateau.
Drainage:
The District is drained by the Afram River in the west, Volta River in
the east and the Obosom River in the north which flow continually
throughout the year and can be used for both domestic and agricultural
purposes.
Vegetation
The District falls within the savannah vegetation zone comprising of the
savannah transitional zone and savannah woodland. This is characterised
by short deciduous fire resistant trees often widely spaced and a
ground flora composed of grass of varying heights. Revering forests
occur along the major rivers and streams of the Savannah Zone and the
largest stretches are cultivated by villagers who settle near the rivers
and streams.
Soils
15 soil types have been identified. Types classified as Haplic luvisols
by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) constitute over 40% of
the land area and belong to the Ejura Series. They have been developed
over Voltaian clay shales, and occur under both forest and savannah
vegetation types. In the absence of bush fires, they accumulate
considerable reserves of organic matter in their top layers.
With minor exceptions, the soils of the Afram Plains are fertile and
suited to a wide variety of crops. The quality of soils is unlikely to
be a constraint to the agricultural development of the District. Indeed,
one of the main attractions of the Afram Plains is the abundance of
readily-available land of good quality.
CLIMATE
Rainfall
There are two rainy seasons in a year in the Afram Plains. The first is
the main wet season, starting in April and usually ending in the second
week of July. Within this period, over three-quarters of the total
annual rainfall is recorded. The minor rainy season occurs in September
and October, and is followed by a long dry season from November to the
end of April or early March. During the dry sea season there is drought
which is accentuated by the harmattan weather so that most plants shed
at least some of their leaves and many tributaries of Afram and Obosom
Rivers dry up as well as some boreholes.
Temperature
Generally, the hottest months are February and March (36.80C and 36.60C
on the average respectively) while the coldest ones are December and
January (19.90C and 20.10C on the average respectively).
Relative Humidity
Relative humidity values in the Afram Plains District are generally
highest in the mornings (06.00 hrs) and lowest around early afternoon
(15.00 hrs). Relative humidity figure for both 06.00 and 15.00hrs are
highest between April and October and lowest between November and May,
which coincide with the rainy and dry periods respectively for the Afram
Plains District. During the highest relative humidity periods and rainy
season months of April to November, mean monthly relative humidity
ranges between 81.6% and 71.6%. This gives an overall mean approximately
79.5%. During the harmattan months when relative humidities are low,
mean monthly relative humidity figures of only 68.2% to 71.6% are
recorded.
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
Sources of water supply to communities in Afram Plains include lakes,
rivers, boreholes, dug-outs, dams and rain harvest. The major source of
potable water supply in the District therefore is boreholes.
Markets
There are four (4) major markets in Afram Plains District and these are
located at Maame Krobo, Ekye Amanfrom, Donkorkrom and Tease. Although
there are other smaller markets in other communities, the four are the
major ones which attract people from all over the country and even
beyond the borders of Ghana. The Maame Krobo market in particular
attracts traders, especially food crop traders from all the major towns
in Ghana, particularly, Kumasi, Accra and Koforidua.
Investment and business potential
The Afram Plains District combines the presence of abundant natural and
human resources with well developed basic social infrastructure provided
through the collaborative efforts of the central government
non-governmental organizations and the private individuals.
The migrant nature of the district provides fertile and feasible grounds
for investment in the provision of hotel or hospitality services. Also
investment into Agriculture especially crops, animals and Agro-Forestry
development is another area that would be worth investing into and which
will definitely yield results. The majority of the soils in the
district are fine sandy –loams, clay- loams and semi-clay loams.
The District has a potential for the cultivation of non traditional
export crops such as ginger, black and hot pepper, cassava (for
processing into gari), maize, yam, cashew, sunflower and citronella.
With the abundant water from the Volta, Afram and Obosom Rivers, the
District has the potential for the promotion of irrigation farming for
cultivation of vegetables such as tomatoes, garden eggs, okro, onion,
chili, cabbages and pepper.
Animal Husbandry involving the rearing of cattle, breeding of sheep and
goats and keeping of poultry is very successfully practiced in the
District whose predominant savannah vegetation is suitable for livestock
production.
Agriculture provides more than half of the employment in the district,
accounting for over 80% of the labour force. The service sector follows
with 17%, while industry employs 3%. Agricultural production and sheer
productivity reflect high performance.
Large scale production of yam, maize, cassava, beans, cocoyam and
plantain, as well as legumes, such as cowpea and groundnuts and
vegetables is undertaken. Tree crops like cashew, citrus and oil palm
are also cultivated.
Thus, there is still plenty of opportunity for investors to take
advantage of the availability of abundant agricultural raw materials to
turn primary products into secondary products and so adding value. For
instance, cassava can be processed into cassava chips for export, while
oil can be extracted from groundnuts and sunflower.
Moreover, favorable conditions for cattle rearing translate into great
potential for the development of the dairy industry. Indeed, cattle
abound all over the district, especially on Dwarf island.
The ceramics industry, concentrated primarily at Bebuso and Adiembra,
also holds strong potential due to the presence of large clay deposits
in the district. Women at Bebuso, for instance, are engaged in pottery
and other aspects of the clay-based industry. With three rivers, the
Volta, Afram and Obosom, providing for lake transport and for inland
fishing, the district’s potential for tourism is enormous. There are
several major rivers and lakes crossing points and privately owned
boats.
A new ferry, when provided to ply the Volta Lake between Agordeke in the
Afram Plains and Kpando – Torkor in the Volta Region, will have a
potential for tourist attraction affording a scenic view of the Volta
Lake. Indeed, Agordeke is set to develop into an all-new town and the
District Assembly has planned its layout carefully. Investors interested
in building hotels and other aspects of the service industry can
contact the District Assembly for assistance.
Interventional programmes
Afram Plains District Agricultural Development Project
This is a rural development project with agriculture as the lead sector.
The sector goal is poverty reduction while the specific objectives are
to increase agricultural output and improve household incomes of
beneficiaries. The project has four components; production, capacity
building infrastructure and management
Millennium Challenge Accounts
This is an International Treaty between Ghana and the USA. The compact
was signe on 1st August 2006 and received formal ratification on 7th
February 2007. It entered into force on 16th February 2007 and will end
on February 2012.
The total compact is for 23 districts; of which Kwahu North alone
receives close to 40% due to her deprived state and high incidence of
poverty. The three main components are
Agriculture Commercialization Project ($241 million) and is to
• Increased Farmer & Enterprise Training in Commercial Agriculture
• Increased Irrigation Development
• Land Tenure Facilitation
• Improved Post-Harvest Handling and Value Chain Services
• Improved Access to Credit On Farm and Value Chain Services.
• Improved Linkages to Farmlands and Markets – Rehabilitation of Feeder Roads
Transportation Project ($143 million) which seeks to
• Enhanced access to International Air and Sea Ports
• Improved Trunk Road Network In Afram Basin
• Improved Volta Lake Ferry Services,
Rural Development Project ($101 million) which will
• Support for Community Services
– Energy for Domestic and Commercial Uses
– Water & Sanitation Facilities
– Educational and Vocational Facilities
– Strengthen Rural Financial Institutions
Strengthen Public Sector Procurement Capacity
The long term expected results are that
• The overall economic rate of return of the Compact is estimated at 20 percent.
• The program is anticipated to help directly alleviate the poverty of over 230,000 Ghanaians and;
• To enhance the livelihood and welfare of one million Ghanaians in total.
Major Economic Activities
The Agriculture Sector
Agriculture stands to be the main stay of the Afram Plains District
economy by virtue of its percentage employment, which is 80% of the
total employed labour force. It should be noted that about 87.2% of
these labour force are engaged in subsistence farming whilst 12.8% are
engage in agro industry.
Agriculture is however divided into two major types— crop farming and
animal husbandry. The combination of these two activities gives rise
to the third option—mixed farming. It was realized that majority of the
farmers (94.1%) are into crop farming with the remaining 5.9% being
mixed farming. This implies that none of the farmers were into only
animal husbandry.
Crop Farming
Crop farming is the dominant agricultural activity in the District.
About 94.1% of the farmers are into crop production. The favourable
climatic conditions and the geo-physical characteristics of the area
support intensive crop farming. These and other factors such as the
availability of arable lands account for the high crop production. Most
of the food crops are grown mainly to be sold for income and the rest
to be consumed by the family. Tree crops such as cocoa and oil palm are
also grown mainly for commercial purposes. The major crops cultivated
can be put into two categories:
• Food crops: maize, plantain, cassava, cocoyam and vegetables
• Tree crops: cashew, orange and oil palm
Farming Practices and Systems
The major farming practices in the District is mixed farming (90.1% of
the farmers). This implies that, whiles the farmers cultivate the food
and tree crops, livestock and poultry are also kept in the backyard as a
supplementary source of food and income. The remaining 9.9% of the
farmers practice mono-cropping.
Ownership of Land
Land ownership in the District is basically vested in stools occupied by
the Chiefs who are the custodians. It is observed that farm lands in
the district are obtainable through outright purchase, lease,
inherited/shared family property, sharecropping and as a gift. The table
below explain the proportions of ownership.
Land ownership in the district
| Source |
Percentage (%) |
| Outright Purchase (bought) |
17.4 |
| Lease |
32.4 |
| Inherited |
21.7 |
| Shared Family Property |
12.4 |
| Doma Yen Kye (Sharecropping) |
1.8 |
| Gift |
14.3 |
| Total |
100.0 |
Farm Size
The size of a farm can be said to be a determinant of the total farm
output. The availability of large stretch of land and its suitability
for various crops farm sizes range between 2 and 200 acres. The current
study on agricultural development in Afram plains reveals that the area
is suitable for mechanized and large scale commercial farming.
Animal Husbandry
The types of animal reared include sheep, goat and cattle. The
systems employed in rearing of animals are mainly the intensive system
where animals are kept in a confined area and fully fed and
semi-intensive where animals are allowed to go out during the day and
brought indoors in the evening 60% of the farmers who practice mixed
farming employ the semi-intensive system, with the remaining 40% getting
into the intensive system of rearing the animals. This implies that
many livestock farmers use the semi-intensive method while majority of
the poultry farmers adopt the intensive system especially the commercial
farmers.
Top Ten Crops Grown in the District
| Type of Crop |
Area under cultivation (hac) |
| Maize |
31,086.5 |
| Yam |
22,041 |
| Cassava |
11,233.8 |
| Pepper |
2,085.6 |
| Groundnut |
6,414.8 |
| Cowpea |
6,517.6 |
| Plantain |
458.2 |
| Cashew |
3,002 |
| Oil Palm |
5,075 |
| Citrus |
281.2 |
Top Five Animals Reared in the District
| Type of Animal |
Total Stock |
| Cattle |
177,330 |
| Sheep |
62,201 |
| Goats |
93,734 |
| Local fowls |
316,502 |
| Pigs |
16,103 |
Numbers of People Employed in the Agricultural Sector
Category |
Number |
| Male |
Female |
| Maize |
12,551 |
10,452 |
| Cassava |
10,186 |
12,185 |
| Cocoyam |
6,214 |
6,851 |
| Plantain |
7,691 |
9,201 |
| Citrus |
1,608 |
1,008 |
| Oil palm |
587 |
347 |
| Sheep |
1,820 |
869 |
| Goat |
2,420 |
1,981 |
| Poultry |
2,281 |
2,913 |
| Pig |
75 |
25 |
The Service Sector
The service sector is second to the agricultural sector in terms of
labour employment. It employs 33.5% of the total labour force.
Majority (66.7%) of those who provide services are employees with the
remaining 33.3% being employers. This clearly describes the employment
status of the people engaged in the service sector. The activities
classified under this sector involve either the sale of goods or the
rendering of services. However, it is generally difficult to put
activities under these categories as separate or exclusive because most
activities involve a combination of the two. Yet still the type of
services they provide ranges from civil servants, through driving, hair
dressing, dress making, sales personnel, mechanic engineer, and “susu”
collection to vulcanizing.
According to the survey conducted, 37.4% of the labour force employed
under the service sector is civil servants. This is followed by
drivers who constitute 24.2% of the service force. The rest of the
proportion is shared among the other types of the service provided
INDUSTRY
The industrial sector is the smallest sector of the District
economy. It employs only 3.1% of the total labour force. This sector
can be said to be an emerging sector possessing the capacity to absorb a
greater percentage of the labour force if adequate measures are put in
place to propel its growth. Most industries in the District produce on a
small scale. This is because they have low production capacity in the
form of machinery, labour and other inputs. A good number of the
industries (73.7%) obtain their raw materials outside the district. The
remaining 26.3% obtain theirs within the districts. This has adversely
affected the cost of production of these industries. There is therefore
the need to put in measures to produce adequate raw materials to feed
the existing industries and also attract new ones.
Type of Industry
The type of industrial activities in the District can be categorised
based on their primary input or raw material. The wood industry is the
largest (42.1%). and includes sawmilling and carpentry. This is
followed by kente weaving (36.8%). Metal-based manufacturing industries
include welding and steel bending constitutes 21.1% of the industrial
workers.
Marketing
Marketing is an essential part of the production process for which
the availability or otherwise of a ready market, has significant
consequences on the output and incomes of the producers. It was
realized that 63.2% of the respondents market their goods within the
District, while the remaining 26.8% of them commute to other parts of
the country to market their goods. Majority of these traders commute to
Kumasi Central Business District to market their products.
Sources of energy for Industry
According to the survey, 83.5% of the industrialists make use of
electricity as their major source of energy for the running of their
industry, whereas the rest (16.5%) resort to the use of petrol/diesel.
Employment Status
Majority of the people working in the industrial sector are employers on
their own. They form 89.5% of the entire labour in the sector. The
rest (10.5%) have been employed by the owners of the various industries.
This implies that majority of the entrepreneurs are employers who
employs the remaining proportion. Labour employment by most industries
in the District is through apprenticeship. Employment of paid labour is
very minute.
Tourism
The natural environment of the District has immense tourism
potentials. Notably, the beautiful Bobiri Forest Reserve with its
butterfly sanctuary. Other tourist sites are the Ejisu Besease shrine,
Yaa Asantewaa museum, Kente weaving at Bonwire, among others. There is
the need to fully harness these tourist potentials for the development
of the District.
NGO’s and CBO’s in the District
| CBO’s/NGO’s |
Location |
Programmes |
Target Group |
| Afram Plains Development Organisation |
District wide |
To improve the standard of living of the HIV/AIDS patients socially and economically |
HIV/AIDS patients |
| Learning Helping Living |
Northern half of the district |
Rehabilitation of the juvenile delinquents and drug addicts |
Children and adults |
|
|
To work in partnership with government agencies and NGO’s to provide care to children and HIV/AIDS patients |
Children and adults |
|
|
Education on HIV/AIDS |
Youth |