Information And Communication Technology 

Information and communications technology (ICT) is recognized as an important component of socioeconomic development. The government has been implementing policies and programmes to expand access of the population to ICT infrastructure and technology. This chapter presents information on access of individuals and households to ICT in the  Amenfi East District.

Ownership of Mobile Phones

Table 5.1 presents information on population 12 years and older that have mobile phones and those using internet facility in the  Amenfi East District. Out of the 54,573 population 12 years and older, in the district, 18,135 constituting 33.2 percent have mobile phones. Also, the proportion of males owning mobile phones (41.2%) is higher than the proportion of females (24.8%) owning mobile phones.

Use of Internet

Table 5.1 indicates that 964 constituting only 1.8 percent use internet in the District. This means internet facility use is generally low in the District. There is slightly a higher proportion of males (2.4%) who use internet than females (1.1%) in the District.


Household Ownership of Desktop or Laptop Computer

Ownership of desktop and laptop computers facilitate easy access to the internet, electronic mail (e-mail), and other services. Table 5.2 shows that in all, there are 4,528 households who own desktop/laptop computers in the district constituting 11.4 percent. Most households having desktop/laptop computers are male headed households (66.2%) compared to female headed households (33.8%) owning desktops/laptop computers.

HOUSING CONDITIONS

In many developing countries, where population increase has been rapid while economic growth has been slow or stagnant, there have been deficits in the supply of facilities such as housing. The situation in urban localities especially has been worsened due to rapid rates of urbanization.

Concerns for human well being conditions associated with housing led to the introduction of housing into the 2000 Round of Population and Housing Census. The 2010 Population and Housing Census is thus the second time questions on housing were asked. A number of housing characteristics and associated conditions like overcrowding, supply of basic services such as drinking water and sanitation facilities (toilet and bathroom) are important areas that are required for monitoring progress in human development.

This chapter discusses housing stock, type of dwelling, holding and tenancy arrangements, construction material, room occupancy, access to utilities and household facilities, main source of water for drinking and other domestic use, bathing and toilet facilities and method of waste disposal.

Housing Stock

Table 8.1 indicates that the total stock of houses in the district is 13,992. The majority (95.5%) of these houses are found in the rural areas with 4.5 percent (635) housing units found in the urban areas. The data further shows that the district recorded a total of 18,620 households of which 92.4 percent (17,214) are rural households and 7.6 percent (1,406) are urban households.

The district has an average household per house of 1.3 which is lower than the national and regional average household per house figures of 1.6 and 1.5 respectively. The table also shows that the district has an average household size of 4.4 with population per house of 5.8. It is significant to note that household population per house in the urban areas in the Amenfi East District is higher (8.6) than the national of 7.1 meaning urban areas of the district have a high population per house.

Type of Dwelling, Holding and Tenancy Arrangements

Table 8.2 indicates that out of the total households of 18,620 in the district, 69.8 percent (12,995) dwell in houses owned by a member of the household. A proportion of 73.8 percent (9,588) of households who dwell in houses owned by a household member are male headed with 26.2 percent (3,407) of households who dwell in houses owned by a household member headed by a female. Under one percent (0.8%) of households (155) dwell in public or government owned houses. 127 of these households (public or government owned) constituting 81.9 percent are located in the rural areas of the district and only 8.1 percent (28) of these households are located in the urban areas. This means more public or government housing units are located at the rural areas than urban areas of the district.

Table 8.3 shows the type of dwelling by sex of household head and type of locality. Of the various types of dwelling, separate house constitute the highest percent (44.6%) followed by compound house (rooms), accounting for 42.2 percent and semi-detached house 8.2 percent. Flat/apartment and Huts/Building (same compound) type of dwelling forms 1.8 and 1.9 percent respectively. All the other types of dwelling individually constitute under one percent.

Of the separate house type of dwelling, the proportion of male headed (46.9%) is higher than the proportion of female headed (38.6%). On the other hand, the proportion of female heads in compound house (rooms) is higher (50.2%) than male headed (39.2%).

Construction Materials

Table 8.4 shows that mud brick and earth constitutes the main constructional material for the outer wall of dwellings in the district, (68.0%) followed by cement blocks/Concrete which constitutes 19.4 percent. The national and regional figures for construction material of out walls of dwellings are 57 percent and 50 percent respective.

The table also shows some differences in the rural/urban localities. While cement block/concrete is the main (52.3%) construction material used for the outer walls of dwellings in the urban areas of the district, only 16.5 percent of dwelling units in the rural areas of the district have cement block/concrete as the main construction material for the outer walls, with 70.3 percent of dwelling units in the rural areas using mud brick/earth for the outer walls.

Table 8.5 indicates that more than 81 percent of households use cement or concrete for the floor of their dwelling units. Earth/mud (17.1%) is also used by a significant proportion of households for the floor of their dwelling units. This pattern is exhibited in the urban and rural divides as well.

Room Occupancy

Table 8.7 provides information on the number of ‘sleeping rooms’ per household. The number of ‘sleeping rooms’ provides an indication of the extent of crowding in households. The table shows that more households (16.1%) are one member households and out of this 26.1 percent have one sleeping room. About 14.4 percent of five and six member households have two sleeping rooms with 24.1 percent of ten and more (10+) member households having eight sleeping rooms. Only 0.5 percent of ten and more member households sleep in one room. The data also show that about 21 percent (20.9%) of ten plus member households sleep in six rooms.

Access to Utilities and Household Facilities

Table 8.8 shows that more than 45 percent (45.2%) of households use electricity (mains) as their main source of lighting, 39.6 percent use flashlight or torch light and 12.6 percent use kerosene lamp. In the urban localities, most households (78.7%) use electricity as their main source of lighting. Only 42.5 percent of rural households use electricity (mains) with another 42.2 percent relying on flashlight/torch for lighting. The rest of the households rely on the other lighting sources (kerosene lamp, electricity by private generators, solar energy, candles, etc.)

Table 8.9 presents information on the main source of cooking fuel used by households in the district. A relatively high percentage (73.1%) of households use wood for cooking in the  Amenfi East District. It is worth noting that most households (77.0%) in the rural areas use wood for cooking compared to 25.7 percent of households in urban areas. Charcoal is used by 16.1 percent of households for their cooking in the district. Whereas 42.0 percent of households in urban areas use charcoal, only 14.0 percent of rural households use charcoal. Gas use for household cooking is low in the  Amenfi East District, with 23.1 percent of urban households and 2.8 percent of rural households relying on gas for household cooking.