PHYSICAL AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
Location and Size
The district is located in the north- eastern part of the Upper East Region between Latitude 100 10’N and Longitude 00 10’W. It is bordered to the east by the Republic of Togo, to the north by Burkina Faso, to the west by Bawku Municipal and to the south by East Mamprusi district Assembly. Garu-Tempane is the district capital.The district has an area of 1,230 sqkm and a population density of 99 persons per sqkm
Topography and drainage
The District marks the highest point of the Upper East Region. Areas bordering the White Volta is generally low and slightly undulating with gentle slopes and heights between 120 – 150m above sea level. The rest of the district is a series of plateau surfaces of average height of 400m with isolated peaks of 430m above sea level.
Geology and Soil.
The soils within the district are mainly developed from granite rocks which are shallow and low in soil organic matter content. The three main soil types found in the district are red and brown sandy loam and clays, moderately deep pale brown coarse sandy loams with biotic granites and gray sandy loams and clays in rivers valleys.
Climate
The climate is characterized by a uni-modal rainy season from May /June to September/October. The average amount of rainfall during the period is between 800- 860mm per annum. The lowest mean temperature is 180C occurring in December/January and highest mean monthly temperature is 400C occurring in Match/ April.
Vegetation
The vegetation is mainly the Sahel savannah type consisting of scattered drought resistant tree and grasses which often gets burnt during the long dry season. The most common economic trees found within the district are the dawadawa, baobab and the shea tree.
Water Supply
About 46 per cent of the population have access to portable drinking water by Ghana water Company Limited (GWLC). The rest get their water supply through boreholes and hand dug well in the Municipality.
Environmental Situation
The environment is made up economic trees, grasses and water bodies which are scatters all over the area. Some parts of the environment especially along the white volta basin are generally prone to flooding situation during the raining season.
DEMOGRAPHICS
Age And Sex Distribution Of The Population .
The estimated total population of the district is 125,280 with a population density of 99 persons per square kilometres. The district has total land area of 1230sqkm
Sex And Rural – Urban Distribution Of The Population
Majority of the population is in the <19 and 50-59 year group. This affects the productive capacity of the District. The labour force is however compensated by the large number of hard working women in the district.
The population of the district is primarily rural and scattered in dispersed settlement which is about 90 per cent rural and about 10 per cent urban.
Labour Force
Household size in the district is relatively large (7) and this has increased the labour force of the households. Though these large households could mean availability of family labour force, it has some financial implication in terms of feeding, healthcare, education, clothing etc. However, Agriculture employs about 70 % of the labour force.
AGRICULTURAL
Crop Sector
Farming is the predominant occupation of the people in the district with the total farm population ranging between 80 and 90%. Farmers in the district engage in cultivation of cereals, legumes vegetables as well as tree crops.
Achievement
Under the block programme, the district supported 805 beneficiary farmers comprising of 269 males and 536 female covering an area of 176 ha of both soya and rice in 2010.
Under NRGP, BESSFA rural bank in the district supported 206 farmers made up of 135males and 71 females covering an area of 82 hectares in maize and soya production.
Achievement in the crop sector of total area cropped in hectares, yield in MT/Ha and production in (MT) is summarised in the table below from 2008-2010.
Crop Statistics
| Crop | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | ||||||
| Area | Yield | Prod. | Area | Yield | Prod. | Area | Yield | Prod. | |
| Maize | 3613 | 1.6 | 5781 | 5265 | 1.31 | 6898 | 5660 | 1.6 | 9056 |
| Rice | 3190 | 2.6 | 8358 | 2433 | 2.8 | 6813 | 3904 | 2.6 | 10150 |
| Millet | 11433 | 0.48 | 5602 | 7400 | 0.44 | 3256 | 6000 | 0.49 | 2940 |
| Sorghum | 9714 | 0.77 | 7480 | 11916 | 0.72 | 8579 | 8800 | 0.76 | 6688 |
| G/Nuts | 10152 | 1.0 | 10254 | 7804 | 0.44 | 3434 | 6980 | 1.0 | 8980 |
| Cowpea | 2672 | 0.98 | 2619 | 8118 | 0.56 | 4546 | 5900 | 0.50 | 2950 |
| S/Potato | 1300 | 11.20 | 14560 | 695 | 11.2 | 7786 | 600 | 9 | 5400 |
| Soya | 3646 | 1.0 | 3063 | 2148 | 0.64 | 4374 | 2100 | 0.8 | 1680 |
| Total | 45720 | 57717 | 45779 | 42376 | 37844 | 42824 | |||
FISHERIES
Fishing is not a key economic activity in the district however, significant fishing has been recorded along the White-Volta river, and at dam sites other permanent water bodies..
LIVESTOCK
Livestock and poultry rearing is an economic activity for the people of district and the practice is Mixed farming where majority of farmers cultivating crops also keep some livestock and poultry. Key livestock types include: Livestock, small ruminants Poultry and Piggery
Achievement
The livestock credit in kind has been able to provide farmer groups with … number of animals.
PROJECTS
Start And End Time.
There was /is a number of NGOs and Bilateral Organizations as well as MOFA funded projects operating in the district in a specialized areas. The start and ending period of the Projects are as indicated in table 4 below
MOFA Related Projects
| NGO/AGENCY | DATES | NAME/AREA OF OPERATION |
| Community Based Rehabilitation | On-going | Catering for persons with disabilities. |
| ZOVFA | On-going | Zouri Organic Vegetable Farmers Association |
| Preby Agric. | 1970 On-going | Provision of micro credit to farmer groups |
| RSSP | On-going | Development of lowlands to boost Rice production |
| BESSFA RURAL BANK | On-going | Provision of financial Services |
| CARE INTERNATIONAL | 2000 – On-going | Capacity Building |
| PAGEV | 2006 – On-going | Capacity Building |
Achievements
These projects have increased the incomes of the rural folks through provision of improved technologies, capacity building and provision of credit facility. This has gone a long way in improving the livelihood of the farmers in the district.
PROGRAMMES
The below shows the number of Programmes been implemented in the district.
| PROGRAMME | DATES | NAME/AREA OF OPERATION |
| NRGP | 2009 – On-going | Northern Rural Growth Project |
| Youth In Agriculture | 2009 – On-going | Bulk-Farm |
| LDP | 2003 – 2010 | Livestock Development Programme |
| BLOCK FARM | On-going | Provision of Inputs for Block Farm beneficiaries |
District Potential
The District has vast potentials of many shea trees, forest reserves, many lowland valleys which can be developed with irrigation facilities to boost rice production. The presence of a financial institusion BESSFA, and a large number of cooperating FBOs are also very conducive recipes for development.
Contact Address
PAUL S. AYAGIBA
DISTRICT DIRECTOR OF AGRICULTURE
C/O P.O. BOX 44
GARU-TEMPANE
TEL: +233-245-369622