Introduction

The population size and age-sex composition of the District have implications for socio-economic development and well-being of the District. It is always imperative that size, composition and distribution of any population be analyzed to facilitate development planning, programme and policy implementation. The change in the population of an area is mainly due to three factors, which are Fertility, Mortality and Migration. Population size and composition influence the District’s potential human resource requirement and level of provision of social services such as schools, hospitals/clinics and housing. This chapter discusses the population size and distribution, age-sex structure, fertility, mortality and migration of the Asutifi South District.

Population size and distribution

Table 2.1 shows the population of the Asutifi South District as recorded in the 2010 Population and Housing Census. The Table indicates that, the population of the District is 53,584 with males constituting 53.0 percent, and females constituting 47.0 percent. The District has a youthful population, ages 5-9 having a proportion of 12.4 percent of the population of the District, 10-14 having 12.1 percent and 15-19 having 10.8 percent. The age group 0-4 recorded the highest percentage of 14.0 of the total population. Figure 2.1 shows that, the population among urban and rural localities are 19,826 (37.0%) and 33,758 (63.0%) respectively. This shows that majority of the population in the District reside in the rural communities.

Area and population density

The number of persons per parcel of land (e.g. per kilometre) is referred to as population density. This measure assumes equal distribution within any given area, hence it is known as crude density. Within the country, the Northern region has the largest land area, almost a third of the total land area of Ghana (29.5%) while the Bono occupies the land area of 16.6 percent. The crude population density for Ghana is 103.4 while Bono has 58.4 persons per square kilometre in 2010. According to the area (Square kilometer) for Bono, Sene West District has the largest 3,262.0991 while Dormaa West District has the least 381.0036 with their population density of 1,792.6 and 12,513.8 respectively. On the other hand, Asutifi south constitutes 597.244 land area (Sq. kilometre) with it population density of about ninety (89.7) persons per square kilometer within the region.

Sex ratio

Sex ratio is a ratio of males to 100 females in the population. It is observed, from Table 2.1 that, sex ratio for Asutifi South District is 111.8. This implies that for every 100 females in the population there are 118 males. On the other hand, there are 12 percent more males than females in the District. The sex ratio for the District (111.8) is relatively higher compared to regional value (98.2). Among the various age groups 85-89 has a sex ratio of 139.6 which is the highest followed by 35-39 (131.1), then 30-34 (128.4). The least sex ratio of 68.8 is among the age group 80-84. It is also shown that, age group 15-64 (working group) has a sex ratio of 116.7 indicating that there are more males in that age bracket than female. Considering the aged (65 and above) it is observe that, for every 100 females there were 99.4 males. The youth population within the age bracket 0-14 also has a sex ratio of 106.2.

Age dependency

The dependency ratio is the ratio of persons in dependent ages (under 15 years and persons 65 years and older) to those in productive ages (15 to 64 years). Table 2.2 shows the age dependency ratio for the District. The Table indicates that, the population 0 - 14 constitute 38.4 percent, aged 15-64 representing more than half (57.6%), while about four (4) percent are in the age group 65 and older. The age dependency ratio is 73.6. Child dependency ratio is higher 66.7 compared to old aged dependency ratio of 7. The dependency ratio of 73.6 percent implies that, every 100 working people in the District take care of about 74 dependants.

Age-sex structure

The age structure of the population is based on the effects of fertility and mortality. Figure 2.1 shows the age-sex structure with respect to Asutifi South District. It has a broad-based and narrow topped population pyramid. This shows that except the 70-74 age cohort, the population within every age cohort is lower than the cohort preceding it, given it a conical shape. This is a typical shape for a developing country. The males dominate the females in almost all the age category. The population reduces with increasing ages but increases at age 70-74 and then declines again.

Fertility, mortality and migration

Fertility, mortality and migration are factors that influence population growth at a particular point in time. Data on these three components are critical for planning the overall socio-economic development of the District.

In this section, we examine the components of population change – fertility, mortality and migration. The interactions of these components determine the size and structure of population. While fertility causes an increase in the size of the population through births, mortality on the other hand leads to a reduction in the size of the population through deaths. Unlike fertility which causes an increase at only one point – births of persons aged zero, deaths can occur at any age, although the force of mortality is greater at the very young and older ages. Similarly, migration can occur at any age, but it is usually young adult males who move first and are often joined by their families. However, unlike fertility and mortality, migration affects the population size and structure of two Regions, the area of in-migration as well as the area of out-migration.

Fertility

Fertility is the natural capability of producing offspring. As a measure, "fertility rate" is the number of children born per couple, person or population. Fertility differs from fecundity, which is defined as the potential or the physiological capacity of a woman, man or couple to reproduce (International Union for the Scientific Study of Population, 1982).

The Crude Birth Rate (CBR) is defined as the number of births in a given year divided by the number of people in the population in the middle of that year. The General Fertility Rate (GFR) is the number of births in a given year divided by the mid-year population of women in the age groups 15-49 times 1000. This analysis covered women between 15 and 49 years because women still have births after age 45. An age specific fertility rate (ASFR) is defined as the number of births to women of a given age group per 1,000 women in that age group. It is usually calculated for 5-year age groups from 15 to 49 years.

The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) which is widely used in the analysis is the average number of live births among 1,000 women exposed throughout their childbearing years (15-49 years) to the schedule of a given set of age specific fertility rates, assuming no women died during the childbearing years. In other words, it is the average number of children a woman will have given birth to by the end of her reproductive years if current fertility rate prevails.

Table 2.2 presents information on reported total fertility rate, general fertility rate and crude birth rate for Ahafo region and Asutifi South. Asutifi South District has a TFR of 3.6 which means that every woman in the reproductive age has averagely four children. GFR is 107.5 live births per 1000 women whereas the CBR is 25.4 live births per 1000 populations.

Children ever born and Children surviving

Table 2.3 shows the female population 12 years and older and the number of births they ever had and the number surviving. It can be observed that, out of 17,038 females age 12 and older covered in the District, 46,006 children were ever born and 40,405 children survived 22

The Table further shows that, more males 23,204 than females 22,802 were born. Out of the males born 20,059 (86.4%) survived compared to 20,346 (89.2%) females surviving. The females group, aged 12-14 years have the least seven (7) of children ever born.

Mortality

Mortality refers to all deaths that occur in the household during the 12 months preceding the Census Night. Mortality, as one of the three components of population change, plays an important role in determining the growth of a population. The crude death rate can be particularly affected by age structure. Death rates are calculated for specific age groups in order to compare mortality at different ages.

Deaths in the Household

Table 2.4 shows the total population, deaths in households and crude death rates for the District and the region. Crude Death Rate (CDR) is the number of deaths in a year per 1000 population of a specific year. Out of the total death in the region (14,189), the total number of deaths recorded in households is 227, which translates into a crude death rate of 4.2 (per 1000). This means about four deaths were recorded per every 1000 persons in the 12 months preceding the Census Night.

Distribution on Causes of Death

The 2010 PHC collected information on causes of death in the District, the Region and the whole country. Table 2.5 indicates that, death due to accident, violence, homicide or suicide in the District, accounts for 9.3 percent, which is higher than the regional figure of 8.7 percent but lower than the national figure of 11.6 percent.

Age-Specific Death Rates (ASDRS)

The age specific death rate is ratio of deaths of people in a specified age group to the population of that age group per 1,000. Figure 2.2 presents the reported age specific death rates by sex. The Figure shows a ‘U’ shape with relatively more male deaths than females between ages 0-4 and 45-49. At age group 50-54 to 55-59, female mortality drops sharply while male mortality continues to increase. This may be as a result of age hyping or age misreporting on the part of the females. Again, at age group 60-64 there is equal death rate among both sexes. However, male mortality increases sharply after age 64 and above while their female counterpart reduces and rises again at age 69 and above.

Migration

Migration is the movement from one place to another. A migrant is a person whose current place of residence is different from his or her place of birth or previous place of residence. There are two types of migration, namely internal and external. Internal migration is the movement of people between geographical boundaries within national borders while external migration is the movement of people across geographical boundaries outside national borders.

Internal migration can be analysed in terms of intra and inter-regional. Intra-regional migration refers to the movement of people between localities within an administrative region, while inter-regional migration is the movement of people between different administrative regions of the country.

Migration data is presented in Table 2.6 which describes the birthplace of migrants by duration of residence. Out of a total number of 21,375 migrants, 22.5 percent were born elsewhere in the region, while 76.0 percent were born in another region and 1.5 percent outside Ghana. Majority of the in-migrants were born in the Ashanti (25.8%), followed by Upper East (16.5%) and Northern (7.5%). Also it is observed that, most of the migrants have lived in the region or born in another region for one to four years. The regions with the highest proportion of migrant population that has stayed in the District for more than 20 years are Volta (29.4%) and Greater Accra (22.0%).