Overview

The District is located in the central part of Ashanti Region of Ghana between Latitudes 6°0 840’N and 7°0 17’ N, and Longitudes 10 70’ W and 1055’ W. The District has an area of about 228 square kilometers representing 0.94% of the land area of Ashanti Region. The District is bounded by Afigya Kwabre South to the South, Atwima Nwabiagya North and Offinso District to the west, Sekyere South District to the East and Ejura-Sekyedumasi District to the North. The Afigya Kwabre North district was delineated from the Afigya Kwabre District (Mother District) and established by LI 2334 on 14th November 2017. The district was then inaugurated on 15th March 2018. The central location of the district within the Ashanti Region coupled with accessibility to most of the areas makes interaction among the populace very easy. Its proximity to Kumasi and some other big urban centers like Suame, Kronum and Afrancho presents an immense potential for marketing of agricultural produce a dominant economic activity of the district. Communities such as Denase, Akom, Ahenkro and Nkwantakese have assumed some level of urbanization because of their proximity to bigger urban centers like Kumasi and Suame. These settlements have also become dormitory towns due to their location close to the major road leading to Kumasi. Boamang, which is about 15 km from the major Kumasi-Tamale route, is the capital town of the District. Settlements like Ahenkro, Denase, Tetrem, Kwamang and Kyekyewere are among some of the notable communities in the District. There are Forty-one (41) settlements in the District, which have been delineated into Fifteen (15) Electoral Areas for the purpose of District Assembly Elections.

Climate

The Afigya-Kwabre North District is located in the semi-deciduous forest zone. The zone is characterized by relatively high rainfall (about 1400mm per annum with a binomial pattern). The major rainy season occurs between March and mid-July with a peak in May /June. There is a dry spell from mid-July to mid-August. The minor rainy season starts from mid-August to about the end of October with a peak in September. A long dry period is experienced from November to February with possibilities of occasional rains. Temperatures are normally high throughout the year with very little variations. The mean monthly temperatures range from 25oC in July/August to 28oC in March /April. The District experiences relative humidity ranging from 90 – 98% during the night and early mornings of the rainy season. Day-time humidity falls below 75% during the harmattan season. The climatic conditions favors the cultivation of diverse variety of cash and food crops which are of tropical nature. Again, the relatively high temperatures and sunshine favors the processing of most crops such as cocoa, maize etc. The double rainfall regimes experienced by the district makes it possible for farmers to cultivate both food and cash crops two times in a year. Extensive dry season however may lead to long period of drought and retards farming activities in that period.

Vegetation

The original vegetation is forest and this has largely been degraded by lumbering, expansion of settlements and farming. The closed forest consisted of a continuous canopy of tall and medium – height trees with little or no undergrowth no longer exists. The area now largely consists of farm patches with isolated stands of individual trees or small areas of tree-clusters. Crops cultivated in the district include, cocoa, oil palm, citrus, avocado pear, coffee, plantain, maize, cassava, cocoyam, cowpea, vegetables etc

Relief And Drainage

The landscape is a dissected plateau with heights reaching 800m to 1200m above sea level. The plateau forms part of the Mampong-Gambaga scarp. The landscape is predominantly undulating resulting in erosion along the slopes. The relief in the district is generally undulating with altitude ranging between800-1000ft. However, the northern part reaches up to 1,200ft above sea level. The undulating nature of the relief of the district makes flow of water easy. Besides the river valleys, there are very few waterlog areas. This again supports the growth of deep rooted crops/plants. The high points serve as observations for people who enjoy sceneries. The District is drained by three main rivers and their tributaries. These are rivers Offin, Oyon, Prabon and Abankro. Continuous human activities along these rivers and streams have adversely affected their flows. Almost all the rivers experience seasonal flows. The seasonal flow of rivers and streams in the district means that they cannot be relied upon for irrigation during the dry season. Again, fresh fish production is not well supported.

Population Size

The 2021 Population and Housing Census puts the Afigya Kwabre North district population at 73330 The location of the district has a potential for faster growth as a result of its proximity to Kumasi and other bigger urban centers like Suame and Kronum. Because of the pressure on land in Kumasi, some developers are moving away from the metropolis to the peri- urban areas thus contributing to the increasing population of the district. Additionally, the Habitat for Humanity project which has contributed to over 300 houses in Nkwantakese is a contributory factor to the increasing population.

Religious Affiliation

The people in the district are mainly Christians. Christians form 78.9% of the total population. They are followed by Islamic religion which also forms 13.8% of the population whiles traditionalist and other worshippers form about 7.3%. Religious organizations in the district can be used for information dissemination and education to promote development in the district

Rural Urban Split

According to the 2010 Population and Housing Census Report, the Afigya Kwabre district has 25.8% urban population as against 74.2% rural. This indicates that the district has large rural population that must be planned for to make life comfortable in the rural areas. This pattern is slightly different from that of Afigya Kwabre North District based on the 2017 projected district population. Currently, Afigya Kwabre North’s urban population stands at 30,567 (50.4%) and rural population (49.6%).

Political And Administrative Structure (Governance)

The District Assembly is the highest decision-making body at the local level. The Assembly has a total membership of 23. These 23 members represent the people (73,330) in the District, at the decision-making level. Fifteen are elected members with 15 only 2 (about 8.7%) of the members are female, there are three area councils and fifteen unit committees which are sub structures under the local governance system. Generally

District Economy

From the 2021 Population and Housing Census, it was computed that the Agric and commerce/service sub-sector employs more people than the other sub-sectors. For example, the service and commerce employ 41.8% while agriculture and industrial employs 47.5%, and 10.7% respectively. Since the district is predominantly agrarian, it is not surprising that this sector employs close to half of its employed population. The district’s nearness to Kumasi also encourages most people into commerce/service related activities. Thus, more people are engaged in trading activities to serve the people migrating from other areas into the district. Some manufacturing companies have also moved into the district as a result of pressure for space in Kumasi.

Table 1 Health Facilities Profile

The district does not have any government hospital and therefore uses St. Patricks Hospital at Offinso as referral facility. Travel time from Boamang the district capital to St Patricks Hospital takes about 20 minutes.

Table 2 Target Population

District Administration

The District Assembly is the highest political authority with the Chief Executive as the head. The President of Ghana appointed him and he is re-elected every four years by the assembly members through balloting. Two thirds of the assembly members are also elected every four years through balloting. The remaining one third is appointed by the President. The District Assembly is the policymaking body. It has five sub committees. They are Finance, Social Services, Public Works, Education, and Executive. The District Administration 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. These are managed by the Planning Officer, Budget Officer and the Finance officer respectively. Under the new guidelines, as part of the decentralization process, eleven decentralized departments have been created and a director heads each.

1.13.1 District Administration sources of funding are as follows:

1. Revenue from direct taxation Common fund.

2. Common fund from Government of Ghana

3. Stool lands revenue

1.13.1 District Administration sources of funding are as follows:

The District Health Management Team is responsible for managing health activities in the district. Funds for Health activities are in the form of financial encumbrance and Sector Budget Support (SBS) from Government of Ghana and Internally Generated Funds (IGF) from health facilities.

1.15 Health systems and development

1.17 Major Concerns for 2024

The major concerns at the beginning of the year included the following:

1. Incomplete reporting into the DHIMS 2 software

2. Delays in reimbursements of NHIA claims to health facilities

3. Inadequate funds for administration and Public health activities

1.18 The Key Priorities for the year are

1. CHPS Implementation

2. Improve maternal and child health

3. Strengthening disease surveillance and response

4. Improve Supportive supervision to health facility.

1.18 The Key Priorities for the year are

1. Lack of funds to organize trainings on staff development and other programs

2. Low patronage of community activities by communities especially the youth.

3. Poor data management. (Data not being validated before transmission into dhims)

4. Low family planning coverage

5. Inadequate diagnostic centers for TB control

6. Insufficient vaccine fridges

7. Inadequate/ lack of computers in some health facilities for data management

8. Inadequate technical staff.

9. Inadequate staff accommodation

10. Inadequate technical & support staff (i.e. Medical Records Assistants, Nutrition Officer, Field Technicians, Dispensary Assistants, Storekeeper, Watchmen, and Laborers etc.)

1.21 Best Practices

1. Focused antenatal care is on going

2. Free baby wrappers are given to clients who do not have them

3. Midwives use mother support groups to trace clients and remind them of their next visit

4. A telephone directory has been made available to the sub-districts to call before they refer cases to St Patrick hospital

5. Men are allowed to attend to their wives during labor.