Overview
Ayensuano District, located in the southern part of Ghana’s Eastern Region, was established on June 28, 2012, with its capital at Coaltar. Covering 499 km², it borders Suhum Municipality to the north, Nsawam Adoagyiri Municipality to the south, Akwapem South District to the east, and Upper West Akim District and West Akim Municipality to the west. According to the 2021 Population and Housing Census, the district has a population of 94,594, with a rural majority of 93%.
Land mark
The Ayensuano District is one of the Districts in the Eastern Region of Ghana which was carved out of the then Suhum Kraboa Coaltar District by Legislative Instrument Number 2052 and inaugurated on 28th June 2012. The district has its capital at Coaltar.
The district lies within Latitudes 50 451N and 60 51 N and Longitudes 00 151W and 00 45W. It is in the southern part of the Eastern Region and shares boundaries with Suhum Municipality to the North; Nsawam Adoagyiri Municipality to the South; Akwapem South District to the East and Upper West Akim District and West Akim Municipality to the West. With a total land area of 499km2, Ayensuano District occupies 2.3 percent of the total land area of the Eastern Region (19, 323sq km) and constitutes 0.2 percent of the total land area of Ghana (239, 460km2).
The population of Ayensuano District, according to the 2021 Population and Housing Census, is 94,594 representing 2.9 percent of the region’s total population. Males constitute 49.8 percent and females represent 50.2 percent. More than ninety percent (93. %) of the population is rural.
Ghana health service is the major agency responsible for providing quality health care services to the people of the area.
Health
The District Health Directorate is located in Coaltar, the district capital and is headed by the District Director of Health Services (Mrs. Esther Larbi Oku-Afari). There is no hospital in the district but there are seven (7) health centers and twenty-two (22) CHPS compounds. Two (2) out of the 22 CHPS compounds are in the process to be upgraded to health centers.
The district health directorate has a total workforce of Two hundred and forty (240) staff. Two hundred and four (204) are mechanized staff, twenty (20) casuals, 13 YEA and 2 volunteer staff.
As a deprived district, some of our major challenges affecting health care delivery in the area is: Bad roads, Tele Communications Network issues, Inadequate staff and staff refusal to accept postings into the district, accommodations issues, hygienic water problems and among others.
Cultural And Social Structure
The district population is a mixture of all the ethnic groups of the country predominantly made up of Akan, Ga – Dangme, Guan, Ewe, Grushie’s, Guam, Dagomba’s and others. The pre-dominant language of the district is Akan. There are two types of inheritance systems in the district: The Akan speaking people are matrilineal whiles the rest including the Guans are patrilineal. All ethnic groups and people are free to observe their religious/traditional festivals in the areas they inhabit. However, Odwira is the main festival celebrated by the people in the district which is observed from September to November.
The population of the district is made up of Christians, Muslims and Traditionalists. Christians constitute about 83.2 percent of the population, Muslims about 4 percent, Traditionalist’s 2 percent, other faiths (1.4%) and people with no religion about 9.4 percent (2010 PHC).
Economy
The district can be described as agrarian because majority of its labor force are in the agricultural sector. The agricultural and forest resource base of the district facilitates the establishment of manufacturing and processing industries. However, there is no large-scale manufacturing setup in the district. Manufacturing is therefore restricted to the small-scale industries; saw milling and wood fabrication, metal fabrication, food processing, alcohol (akpeteshie) distillation, soap making and handicrafts among others.
Household Size, Composition And Structure
The district has a household population of 75,843 with a total number of 18,098 households. The average household size in the district is 4.3 persons per household. Children constitute the largest proportion of the household structure accounting for 41.2 percent. Spouses form about 11.2 percent. Nuclear households (head, spouse(s) and children) constitute 31.1 percent of the total number of households in the district.
Literacy And Education level in the district is very low. 79.7% of the population are illiterate, and 20.3 percent are literate. The proportion of literate males is higher (69.4.6 %) than that of the females (30.6%).
Fifteen (15) years and above of the population is economically active representing 75.5%, while 21.5 per cent are economically inactive. Of the economically active population, 96.3 percent are employed while 3.7 percent are unemployed.
