HOUSEHOLD INCOME

The District Database for 2016 did not compute household income on community basis hence the difficulty in finding specific figures for Assin South District alone. However, there are reasons to believe that what happens in Assin North is not very different from the patterns in Assin South District. For instance 22.6% of the household receive GH¢2,000 and above in a year. This amounts to 49.5% of the total income in the District. This means that 22.6% of the population spends almost half of all total income generated in the District, an indication of inequality in the distribution of incomes.

The survey further reveals that about 64.51% of the population receives incomes below GH¢2,000. This disparity in income distribution must be addressed to ensure social and economic stability in the District. This calls for the introduction of viable projects that are geared towards promoting growth and reducing poverty.

HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE PARTTERN

A household survey conducted in 2015 with support from GIZ showed that about 54.2% of the household income is spent on food households also committed 9.2% of their income on transport while clothing surprising took 8.2% income compared to 8.1% on education .this trend indicated the priority level of fashion over education which is not healthy for the development of education in the District. Not surprisingly, school performance in the District is nothing good to write home about. Awareness creation in the importance of education needs to be intensified.

The expenditure pattern revealed that less than 50% of the households really save part of their incomes at the end of the month. This clearly indicates the low levels of income in the District.

BANKING SERVICES

The District has one Commercial Bank (GN Bank) and two non-banking financial institutions like Insurance companies, Co-operative Credit Union etc.

There are two Rural Banks in the District: Nyankumasi-Ahenkro Rural Bank located at Nyankumasi-Ahenkro with a branch at Assin Darmang; Assinman Rural Bank located at Assin Manso with branches at Ngresi, AburaDunkwa, CapeCoast, Mankessim, Ajumako and AjumakoBesease and Akoti Rural Bank located at Assin Foso with a branch at Assin Darmang. In addition, there are Susu groups (non-traditional banking institutions) dotted in the District.

EMPLOYMENT

As indicated earlier, unemployment among the youth is quite predominant in the District. However, with the operationalization of the YEA, the problem has been partially addressed. Since the inception of the programme, 1,200 people, especial the youth have been employed in the areas of Education, Health, Agric and E,nvironment and Sanitation Sectors as indicated in the table below.

Table 18: Number of Youth Employed Under the YEA

Source: NYEP Co-ordinator, ASDA (2016)

Fig 7: NYEP Trends

REVENUE ASDA

ASDA has 22 revenue collectors made up of 12-commission collector and 10 permanent ones. Table 19 shows a summary of revenue to the assembly from 2014 to 2016.

According to the table above, the main sources of revenue in order of importance are grants, followed by fees and fines, licenses or rate, land and then rent.

For the Locally generated sources of revenue, the main sources are market tolls, lorry parks, contractor’s registration, stool lands and property rates.

In terms of achievable rates, reports from the Finance office indicates that Grant achieved - 89%, followed by Rent -71%, Fees & Fines- 48%, Licenses- 32.3% and Rates- 0.89% and Lands0.70% of their estimates.

Again, table above shows that the District is heavily dependent on grant. Indeed, grant constitutes about 94% of the District total revenue. In 2015 for example, the assembly was able to achieve only 40.8% of her IGF budgeted revenue. This clearly suggests low revenue mobilization.

This trend suggests that a fall in the flow of grants could have adverse effect on the District economy. This therefore calls for updating of database of rateable items, pursuing an aggressive revenue collection strategies and addressing the other bottlenecks identified during the situational analysis.

EXPENDITURE

Table 19 also shows a summary of expenditure of the assembly for 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Analysis of the annual expenditure trends indicate that capital expenditure forms the largest share of the total expenditure followed by General Expenditure in 2011, Personnel Emolument in 2012 and Travelling and Transport in 2013. This shows that the District assembly spends a greater proportion of its revenue on development projects. This suggests that the District is responding to the developmental needs of the people. This further suggests that without grant, most especially, the District Assembly Common Fund, there is no way the District could be able to implement GSGDA.

Furthermore, an examination of the 2013 June Trial Balance shows a relative increase in the running cost of official vehicles. This might be partly due to the ageing of the vehicles and the increase in fuel prices.

More so, the District recurrent expenditure is less than its capital expenditure suggesting that the District spends more of her revenue on development projects. This is good since this trend is in line with the District’s mission statement.

REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE PATTERN

It is however worth commenting that the District Assembly has not been able to meet its budgeted Revenue and Expenditure heads overtime.

Table 19 shows the revenue and expenditure pattern.

Table 19: Revenue and Expenditure Pattern

Source: Finance Dept. ASDA 2016

FOOD SECURITY

Food security is the access by all people at all times, to adequate calories needed for a healthy life. Access to the needed food and food supplements is necessary for a healthy life.

The District is abound in the cultivation of food crops such as plantain and cassava all year round. There are also vegetables which are produced all year round.

It is sufficient to say there is adequate food security in the District all year round.

There exists an indigenous knowledge of managing the food to feed the household throughout the year. Food needed for the households are stored in the farms and bans. Food preserved is occasionally sold for income to buy other commodities.

NUTRITION

Nutrition is the intake of food, considered in relation to the body’s dietary needs. Good nutrition – an adequate, well balanced diet combined with regular physical activity – is a cornerstone of good health. Poor nutrition can lead to reduced immunity, increased susceptibility to disease, impaired physical and mental development, and reduced productivity.

The nutrition situation in the District is not so good, there are reported incidences of dietary reported cases at the health facilities.

Most of the foods consumed in the district are “one way” to put in simple terms. There are few balanced diets and as such poses various health challenges to individuals.