The Asante Akim North District was created in 2012. The district is located in the Eastern part of Ashanti Region and lies between latitude [6°60’N and 7°30’N] and longitude [0°15’W and 01°20’W]. It covers a land area of 1,125 square km and shares boundaries with Sekyere Kumawu and Sekyere Afram Plains to the north, south by Asante Akim South and Asante Akim Central; East by Kwawu East and West by Sekyere East.

Population

It has a projected 2024 population of about 91,307, with One Hundred and Thirteen (113) communities. The Afram Plains basin covers about 40% of these communities.

Health

The District Health Management Team is responsible for managing health activities in the district The district is divided into four sub-districts namely; Agogo, Ananekrom, Juansa and Amantenaman. Agogo and Ananekrom sub districts forms part of the Afram Plains. The district has twenty-two (22) Community Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) zones demarcated according to electoral areas.

The district has one (1) Hospital, One (1) Polyclinic, Three (3) Health Centres and eleven CHPS facilities; of which seven (7) are permanent constructed compounds. Other notable health related amenities include 30 Chemical shops, 47 Trained TBA’s and 71 Community Based Surveillance Volunteers.                                                                                                                                          

Ethnic groups

Majority of the people in the district are Akans. Other minority ethnic groups include Fantes, Ewes, Gas, Sissalas, Nzemas, Mole Dagombas and Kussasis.  The predominant language is Twi.

religion

People of Asante Akim North are either Muslims, Christians or practice African Traditional Religion. Majority of Christians attend either the Church of Pentecost or Presbyterian Church.

rainfall

There are two main rainy seasons in the district; between mid- March and late June and late August through to November. The first dry season is from December to February with Northeast trade winds (harmattan) and the second and shorter dry season from the end of June until August.

electricity and water

Most towns and bigger villages stretching from Juansa, Domeabra, Amantenaman, Wioso, Hwidiem, Agogo and Ananekrom have electricity. Pipe borne water exists in the main towns.  Additionally, there are bore holes in most communities. However, some villages still rely on hand dug wells, rivers and streams.

transportation and communication

The main forms of commercial transport are passenger buses, taxis, tricycles (Pragia) and Commercial Motorcycles (Okada). Tractors, Private motorbikes and bicycles are the main forms of transport in the Afram Plains. Most roads are either second-class or feeder roads.  Parts of the Afram Plains is virtually inaccessible during the rainy season.  Most communities have access to telephone connectivity. Hard to communities either have no or poor connectivity.

main economic activities

Majority of the people are small-scale farmers. Crops produced include plantain, tomatoes, cassava, water melon, maize, cocoyam, groundnuts, and yam. Commercial farming is practiced on a small scale and crops planted include plantain, cocoa and maize. Appropriate period of farming during the year is between March and September. Other minor economic activities include charcoal production, Civil service and trading. Trading takes place all year round but peaks between August and December. Market days usually falls on Fridays and Tuesdays.

traditional authorities

Traditionally Chiefs and Queen mother’s rule the towns and villages.  There are three traditional councils centred on the three main towns namely; Agogo, Juansa and Domeabra.

education and institutuions

The district has three (3) tertiary institutions, three (3) Senior High Schools and over one hundred (100) basic schools.

district administration

The District Assembly is the highest political authority with the Chief Executive as the head.  The District Assembly is the policymaking body.  It has five sub committees. They are Finance, Social Services, Public Works, Education, and Executive. It is administered by the Chief Executive and the Coordinating Director who is assisted by two deputies.  The Administration has three units namely the Planning, Budget, and the Finance.  Under the new guidelines, as part of the decentralization process, eleven decentralized departments have been created and a director heads each.