The Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis is one of seventeen districts in the Western Region with a land area of about 49.78 km2. It is bordered to the East by the Shama District, to the North by the Mpohor Wassa East District, to the West by the Ahanta West District and to the South by the Gulf of Guinea.
Generally, the Metropolis does not experience severe weather conditions. The climate of the metropolis is equatorial, with an average annual temperature of about 220C. Rainfall is bi-modal, with the major season occurring between March and July and the minor season occurring between August and November. The mean annual rainfall is about 1,380 mm, covering an average of 122 rainy days.
The natural vegetation has largely been degraded due to slash and burn farming practices and other human activities. The existing vegetation in the north and central portions of the Metropolis is mainly woodland. However, along the coastal areas there are thickets interspersed with tall grass species.
The Metropolis is of varied landscape; the coast line has capes and bays, which have been largely eroded. The central portion of the metropolis is low lying with an altitude of about 6 metres below sea level. Otherwise, the area is undulating with ridges and hills.
The Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis is characterized by faulted shales and sandstone resting on a hard basement of granite, gneiss and schist. The faulting system has marked influence on the land form especially along the coastline which clearly follows the main fault direction of North East.
The surface of the metropolis is fairly watered, with the drainage pattern being largely trellis in nature with minor dendrite forms. The two main rivers flowing through the metropolis are the Whin and the Kansawora rivers, while the lagoons are the Essei and the Butre.
AGRICULTURE IN THE METROPOLIS
The economically active population is about 209,697 (51.9 percent of total population), and agriculture (farming and fishing) is engaged in by about 83,879 people (40 percent of the economically active population) with about 11 percent of the “farmers” engaged in fishing. The average farm size is about 2 acres and yield per acre is low and varied. For the 83,879 farmers in the Metropolis, close to a thousand farmers have been registered by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. The registration is still ongoing.
Major crops cultivated in the metropolis are cassava, maize, plantain, cocoyam, yam, sugarcane, oil palm, citrus, sweet potato, vegetables and coconut. Livestock reared include sheep, goats, local and commercial poultry, and to a lesser extent, cattle. Non-traditional commodities include grasscutter, beekeeping, mushroom, snail and agro-forestry/woodlots. In the fisheries sub-sector, marine fishing and aquaculture are the major areas.
Nationally the Agricultural sector employs about 70 percent of the population compared to about 18 percent in the Metropolis. Agriculture is thus an important sector due to the large rural settings. A total of 50.8 percent of the land area in the Metropolis is estimated to be cultivable and as many as 52,000 people are estimated to be engaged in agriculture, 11 percent of whom are fishermen. The average farm size is about 5 acres; however, yield per acre is comparatively low and varied. Crops produced in the Metropolis include maize, rice, cassava, etc.
The land tenure system is still a problem as lands are largely owned by families, clans and stools. This makes large scale farming difficult due to litigation over lands. Most farmers also use simple tools such as hoes and cutlasses and depend largely on rainfall. Agricultural mechanization is not practiced due largely to the woodland type of vegetation and the rolling nature of the topography.
Sekondi-Takoradi Municipal Agricultural Development Unit
The Sekondi-Takoradi Agricultural Development Unit is one of the units under the Ministry of Food and Agricultural. The unit is manned by the Municipal Agric Director as the head, Municipal Veterinary officer, four Agricultural Development Officers as Supervisors, five Agricultural Extension Officers as field officers and some veterinary extension officers.
Agro-based Industrial Development
The major food items processed are fish, cassava, palm nut and sugarcane. Fish is mostly smoked at areas like New Takoradi, Nkotompo, Aboadze, Aboasi and Shama. This is done by mainly women under poor working conditions. Crude methods are used and these expose the women to excessive heat-a health hazard.
Cassava is also processed into Gari at Awuna Beach and places such as Assakae and Nkroful. Palm nut, coconut and sugarcane are also processed into palm oil, coconut oil and alcohol (Akpetechie) respectively.
REGESTERED FARMER BASED ORGANIZATIONS (FBOs) AND THEIR ENTERPRISES
NAME OF FBO
TYPE OF ENTERPRISE
|1.||Mawa Seagomi Gari Processers||Kwesiinstem||Gari Processing|
|2.||Kwesimintim-Asakae Junction Oil Processers||Kwesiinstem||Processing|
|3.||Takoradi Poultry Farmers Association||Takoradi||Livestock Production|
|4.||Adom Vegetable Growers Association||Airforce||Crop Production|
|5.||Ebenezer Groundnut Processers||Takoradi||Processing|
|6.||Mempeasem Vegetable Growers Association||Anaji||Crop Production|
|7.||Pretea – Tumentu PSI Growers Association||Whindo Market||Crop Production|
|8.||Boafo Ye Na||Ahenkofikrom||Processing and livestock Production|
|9.||Diabene / Effiakuma Palm Kernel Association||Effiakuma||Animal, Crop Production, Marketing and processing|
|10.||Diabene Farmers and Millers Association||Diabene|
|11.||Ayidekyew Dongo Be||Bakado||Oil Extracting machine and its accessories.|
|12.||Kojokrom Palm Kernel Oil Processing Association||Kojokrom|
|13.||God is Able Co-Operative Society||Mempeasem|
TRENDS IN CROP PRODUCTION
Crop Production (Metric Tonnes)
Crop Yield (Metric Tonnes/Hectare)
Area Crop Production (Hectares)