Yilo Krobo

 

Location

It falls approximately within latitudes 6⁰00’N – 0⁰30’N and longitudes 0⁰30’E – 1⁰00’W.

 

LandArea

It covers an estimated area of 805sq.km, constituting 4.2 percent of the total area of the Eastern Region.

Boundaries

The district is bordered on the north and east by Manya Krobo District, on the south by Akwapim North and Dangme West Districts and on the west by New Juaben, East Akim and Fanteakwa Districts.

 

Administrative set up:

The district has about two hundred thirty seven settlements and its divided into seven area councils namely, Somanya, Oterkpolu, Boti, Nkurakan, Nsutapong, Klo-Agogo and Obawale.

Climate

The Yilo Krobo District lies within the dry equatorial climatic zone which experiences substantial amount of rainfall.  It is characterized by a bi-modal rainy season, which reaches its maximum during the two peak periods of May – June and September – October.  The annual rainfall is between 750mm in the Lower Yilo and 1600mm on the slopes of the ranges in the  Upper Yilo. In the district, temperature ranges between a minimum of 24.9⁰ C and a maximum of 29.9⁰ C.  A relative humidity of 60 – 93 percent is also characteristic.

 

Vegetation

The vegetation of the district is characterized by a semi-deciduous rain forest and savanna grassland.  The semi-deciduous rain forest stretches across a wider part of the district and occupies about 85% of the estimated area. It is mostly found in Upper Yilo.  The vegetation of Lower Yilo is savanna grassland with scattered tree species like Neem, Cassia, and Mangoes etc. It occupies about 15% of the estimated area and forms part of the Accra plains.

Topography

The district is about 80% mountainous.  The Akwapim Range stretches into the district from southwest to northeast across the district. It also has  numerous valleys which provide an undulating landscape.  The low lands are the southeastern part of the district (Lower Yilo).

The rocks forming the ranges are called the Togo series, which include quartzites, phyllites, sandstones, phyllonites and sandy-shades.    On the average, the height of the highlands in the district ranges between 300 and 500 metres above sea level.  There is a scarp rising up to 600 metres, which forms the boundary with the New Juaben District.  On the southeastern part of the district is the Krobo Mountains from where it is believed the Yilo people migrated to the present area.

Drainage

There are two main watersheds forming three river basins in the district.  One of the watersheds is located on the Akwapim Range where streams flow in an eastward direction on the lowlands of Lower Yilo into the Volta River.  On the west of the range, the streams flow into the Ponpong River, which empties into the Volta Lake..

SoilsandtheirSuitabilityforAgriculture

The predominant soil in the district can be divided into three major groups.  These are,

• Soils developed over sand stone (Yaya-Pimpimso-bejua Association)
• Soils developed over Buem (Dewasi-Wayo Association)
• Soils developed over Togo rocks (Menfe-Fete-Salom complex and the Oyarifa-Krobo-Memfe-Nyire complex).

SoilTypesandCropSuitability

Soil Type	Characteristics	Soil Suitability	Location
Dewasi-wayo Association	Poorly drained and less fertile	Maize and cassava	Sikabeng and Okrakwadwo areas
Menfe-fete-salom complex	Moderately drained	Maize, cassava and oil palm	Obenyemi areas
Oyarifa-Krobo-Menfe complex	Water-logged and periodic flooding	Maize, okra, mango, pepper and garden eggs	Somanya Zone
Yaya-Pimpimso-Bejua Association	Well drained	Oil palm, yam, maize plantain, cassava and pepper	Huhunya, Akpo, Boti and Apersua

Source:  MOFA, 2000

 

RoadNetwork

The district has estimated total road network coverage of 240 km. This includes 80km of first class roads linking up the district capital to Accra, Tema, Koforidua, Ho and Assesewa and Akosombo. There are also about 160kms of feeder roads linking up the market centres and major settlements.

 

PRODUCTIONANDGAINFULEMPLOYMENT

The main productive activities in the Yilo Krobo District are agriculture, small-scale enterprises and services. However, agriculture is the most important. It employs about 58% of the population in the District.

 

Agriculture

The main economic activity in the Yilo Krobo District is agriculture. A household survey conducted in 2002 indicated that 58.0% of the population were engaged in the sector.

Crop farming is the principal agricultural activity in the district. The main crops grown in the district are maize, cassava, yam, cocoyam and plantain. A wide range of vegetables like tomatoes, garden eggs, pepper and okra are also grown. All these crops are cultivated largely on small-scale.

Yilo Krobo has however, seen the emergence of medium to large scale farms within the last few years. Large scale plantation crop like mango has become a very important income generating activity as a result of interventions made by MOFA in collaboration with ADRA, TIPCEE, EMQAP, MIDA, KROBODAN, Hunger Project etc.

MajorFarmingActivities

There are three dominant farming activities in the district. These are Food crop cultivation, livestock rearing and establishment of mango plantations. Of these three, the most practiced is food crop farming,

The main farming areas in the district are Okwenya, Ogome, Akorley, Azza, Huhunya, Oterkpolu, Akpamu, Agogo Ahinkwa, Nsutapong, Obawale, Opersika, Perpetifi and Samlesi.

MajorCropsgrownintheDistrict

Five staple crops: maize, cassava, yam, cocoyam and plantain are grown in almost all parts of the district. Yam and cocoyam are limited to Upper Yilo because the soils of Lower Yilo are not suitable for their cultivation. Mango is the major tree crop cultivated in Lower Yilo. It has both ecological and economic potential. A wide range of vegetables like tomato, garden eggs, pepper and okra are also grown. All these crops are cultivated largely on small-scale. The exportable commodities amongst them are pepper, okra, garden eggs and mango.

CropsandGrowingAreas

Crop

MainAreaofCultivation

Oilpalm Tomatoes Garden eggs Pepper Maize Plantain Yam Cassava Okra Mango Cocoyam

Akpo,Akpamu,Huhunya,Apersua,Obenyemi Akpo, Akpamu, Boti, Huhunya Akpo, Akpamu, Boti, Huhunya, Agogo Oterkpolu, Huhunya, Sikabeng, Agogo, Akpo, Akpamu Throughout the District Ahinkwa, Nsutapong, Agogo mainly & around homesteads in all communities Akpo, Akpamu, Boti, Perpetifi Throughout the whole District Perchiri, Okwenya, Akorley & currently throughout the District Somanya mainly, & Upper Yilo to some extent Huhunya Akpo, Akpamu, Agogo, Ahinkwa, Nsutapong (Upper Yilo in general)

Source: MOFA, Somanya.

The yields of the major staple crops and the area under cultivation in the district from 1993 to 2010

Table:  Crop Production output/yield between 1993 –  2004

Year		Maize	Cassava	Plantain	Cocoyam	Yam	Rice
1993	A	8,900	10,400	200	2,000	–	–
	Y	1.80	11.4	8.0	6.6	–	–
	P	16,000	114,400	1,600	13,200	–	–
1994	A	9,100	12,000	400	2,000	–	–
	Y	2.4	11.4	8.5	5.6	–	–
	P	21,800	135,600	3,400	11,200	–	–
1995	A	10,000	13,200	2,000	600	–	–
	Y	0.8	10.6	7.0	8.3	–	–
	P	8,000	140,000	14,000	5,000	–	–
1996	A	–	–	–	–	–	–
	Y	–	–	–	–	–	–
	P	–	–	–	–	–	–
1997	A	10,200	12,000	800	2,000	600	250
	Y	1.7	12.7	8.5	6.5	10.0	2.0
	P	17,400	152,000	6,800	13,000	6,000	500
1998	A	11,000	14,000	900	2,000	900	300
	Y	1.8	12.1	6.7	6.5	7.8	2.0
	P	20,000	170,000	6,000	13,000	7,000	600
1999	A	12,550	12,600	855	2,000	933	330
	Y	1.8	12.3	7.3	6.5	12.8	2.0
	P	22,590	154,980	6,240	13,000	11,923.74	660
2000	A	10,500	10,800	800	1,200	900	200
	Y	1.7	11.4	7.3	6.2	10.4	2.0
	P	17,850	123,120	5,840	7,440	9,342	400
2001	A	10,500	12,000	1,000	1,250	1,000	210
	Y	1.3	10.4	7.3	7.0	15.5	2.0
	P	13,700	124,800	7,300	8,750	15,500	420
2002	A	10,900	12,150	1,100	1,300	1,000	–
	Y	1.7	11.3	8.8	7.0	18.5	–
	P	18,530	137,295	9,680	9,100	18,500	–
2003	A	10,800	12,200	1100	1,300	1,000	–
	Y	1.6	11.3	86.2	45.5	11.3	–
	P	17,600	137,295	94,800	59,200	11,280	–
2004	A	8,121	11,007	662.4	14.3	2,229.0	–
	Y	–	–	–	–	–	–
	P	–	–	–	–	–	–
2005	A	8,556	9,953.5	1,580	2,812.5	1,656.5	–
	Y	2.1	14.6	1.7	6.8	6.2	–
	P	16,967.6	145,321.1	2,686	19,125	10,270.3	–
2006	A	9,040	8,534	780	1,447	1,350	–
	Y	1.46	14.9	9.9	8.4	14.39	–
	P	13,198	127,157	7,722	12,155	19,427	–
2007	A	8,470	9,130	700	2,009	2,133	–
	Y	2.3	13.7	8.4	6.0	12.2	–
	P	19,481	125,081	5,880	12,054	26,023	–
2008	A	6,787	8,425	440	2,468	1,735	–
	Y	2.1	14.1	8.9	6.9	12.4	–
	P	14,253	118,793	3,916	17,029	21,514	–
2009	A	6,007	7,920	440	3,137	1,161	–
	Y	2.2	15.3	6.7	5.7	10.3	–
	P	13,215	121,176	2,948	17,881	11,958	–
2010	A	8,516	10,684	553	3,084	1,375	–
	Y	2.3	15.8	6.9	5.4	10.6	–
	P	19,588	168,807	3,816	16,656	14,571	–
2011	A
	Y
	P

 

Source: MOFA, Somanya

Note:   A         =          Area Cultivated in (ha)

Y         =          Yield (tones/ha)

P          =          Total production in tones

The following table shows the different crops and areas in which they are grown

Landundercultivation

Records indicate that a total of 90,000 hectares is currently under cultivation in the district. The land is losing its fertility as a result of continuous cropping, bush burning, felling of trees by chain saw Operators, erosion etc.

LivestockRearing

Apart from crop farming, livestock farming is also practiced in the district. The practice in the district is such that most of those engaged in cropping are also involved in livestock rearing. The main types of livestock reared in the district are cattle, goats, sheep, chicken and pigs. These animals are reared all over the district. However, the main livestock rearing areas are Akorley, Okwenya, New Somanya, Nam-Ogome, Obawale, Oterkpolu, Boti, Huhunya and Nkurakan. Most of the livestock rearing activities are meant to supplement nutritional requirements and to earn additional income.

LivestockSub-Sector

LivestockPopulation(Million)

Type of Livestock	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Cattle Sheep Goat Pigs Poultry	2,002 6,764 9,752	3,589 8,129 11,266	3,600 8,311 11,412	4,260 8,494 12,288	4,270 8,501 12,290	4,278 8,510 12,310	2,047 8,621 12,620 753 20,500	2,174 18,222 20,418 286 25,908	2,302 8,334 9,743	2,414 9,713 11,747	2,422 9,911 12,243

Source:MOFA,Somanya

 

Type of Livestock	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Cattle Sheep Goat Pigs Poultry	790 27,561 28,313 714 11,755	1,087 4,637 6,152 104 7,917	1,194 4,956 6,823 971 4,678	1,852 34,879 43,851 1,081 173,900	1,986 20,657 30,574 4,136 165,511	2,449 34,592 40,443 5,335 184,640	2,523 35,011 40,823 5,674 185,013

 

MeatProduction

Type of Livestock	1991	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Cattle Sheep Goat			189 75 78	132 108 96		987 35 30	1,211 72 76	1,426 148 147	1,376 70 209	1,339 104 317	1,124 105 141

Source:MOFA,Somanya

 

 

Type of Livestock	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Cattle Sheep Goat	800 106 66	904 156 118	736 125 104	807 102 94	777 77 76	892 89 90	892 130 164	1,212 92 86

Source:MOFA,Somanya

• Fertility rate of animals
  1. Cattle – Twice in 3 years
  2. Sheep – Twice a year
  3. Goat – Twice a year
• Litter size per type of animal
  1. Cattle – 1
  2. Sheep – 1, 2 or 3
  3. Goat – 1, 2 or 3
• Acreage of pasture developed for farm animals – Nil
• Mortality figures of farm animals (for last year)

It is also important to note that cattle rearing is mostly limited to Somanya area.

Grazing

The prominent way by which livestock grazing is carried out in the district is by open grazing.

Stray animals pose real threat to crops grown in backyard gardens.

Fishing

Lake fishing is seasonal at Bukunor during the rainy season when the Volta Lake overflows its banks. Both males and females are engaged in this type of occupation. Whilst the males are directly involved in fishing, the females are mainly fishmongers. Fish farming has not received much attention in the district even though it has great potential.

IrrigationFarming.

Besides Apersua, Perchire and Bukunor communities where irrigation farming is practised because they are situated along the Ponpong river irrigation farming  is not common in the district, even though rainfall is unreliable. The District Agricultural Development Unit is gradually promoting sprinkler irrigation farming in the district especially for the cultivation of vegetables during the dry season.

Below is a table indicating some individual farmers practicing irrigation farming

IrrigationDevelopment

Farm(er)	Irrigation Facility	Location	No.	Size(Acres)	Yield	Remark
G.T. Ecological Pentacom Batsa Virgin Valley DAT Farms Krony Farms Mr. Osragbo Yaw Amponsah	Water Harvesting (Dam) Water Harvesting (Dam) Well Well Dugout Dugout Dugout Dugout	Ogome Ogome Trom Akorley Trom Trom New Somanya Nyante	2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1	5 & 10 – – 600 sq. m – – – –	– – – 9000cu.m – – – –	All these facilities are available throughout the year

Post-HarvestLossesandStorage

Most of the foodstuffs grown by farmers in the district are lost as a result of poor harvesting methods, poor storage, poor storage pest management, inadequate market and processing. For instance losses of tomatoes are estimated at between 35-40 percent and that for maize is estimated at 30-35 percent.

There are few private storage facilities in the district and most of them are used to store maize

The commonly used types of storage facilities are:

• The improved ventilated narrow cribs.
• The “ewe” barn
• The “kitchen” barn
• “Room” storage where the produce is loaded into sacks and placed on wooden pallets.

Most of the other crops are stored using traditional methods, and this is not always efficient.

The lack of storage facilities forces farmers to sell off their produce at very low prices. This is especially so if there is a bumper harvest and also in the case of vegetables such as garden eggs, tomatoes and okra which are perishable.

FarmSizes

The average farm size in the district is 0.81 hectares. This is far below the national average of 1.2 hectares. This is as a result of land fragmentation which is explained by increasing population and the tradition of  fathers dividing land and sharing it amongst their  children. The more the children, the smaller the plots become.

FarmLabour

A very important factor in labour is the availability of Labourers to support agricultural activities. In the district labour is scarce and expensive during the peak periods of agricultural production (land preparation, weeding and harvesting). Most of the youngsters are not prepared to be engaged in physical labour.

However, some of the farmers are old and do not have adequate physical energy to maintain and manage their farms. For this reason, they depend very much on household and hired labour.

 

FarmTools

The main farming tools used in the district are hoes and cutlasses. Most of the farmers cannot afford inputs that reduce the need for physical labour. This limits the ability of the farmers to increase the size of their operations, thus, discouraging them from trying new innovations in agriculture. Tractor usage especially for land preparation is receiving tremendous attention in Somanya, but the cost of tractor service is still high.

FarmPowerforLandPreparation

	ER
Household and land
No. Farm HH	14,265
Est. crop land in main season (ha)	22,800 ha
Estimated crop land in minor season (ha	16,536 ha
Machine in operation	231
Running machine to farm HH ratio	1:62
Acreage covered during the main season (ha)	5,200
Estimated land ploughed in minor season (ha)	3,900

Source:           Agricultural Engineering Services Directorate

ExtensionServices

Adequate extension services are available to farmers in the district. This is as a result of the adoption of effective extension methodologies. The methodologies used to enable Extension Agents reach out to many farmers are a combination of the individual and the group methods and the use of mass media (Rite 90.1 FM) located at Somanya. The services provided range from technical advice on new technologies e.g. The introduction and use of improved planting materials, application of fertilizers, effective and efficient use of agro-chemicals, veterinary services etc.