Introduction

In the 2010 PHC, an agricultural household was defined as one in which at least one person in the household was engaged in farming/fishing/animal husbandry.

Like most other districts in Ghana, a higher proportion of the population of Amenfi West Municipal is engaged in agriculture. The agricultural activities of the district include crop farming, tree planting, livestock rearing, fish farming, etc.

Cash crops grown are mostly cocoa, oil palm and rubber. Major food crops produced include cassava, maize, rice, garden eggs and tomatoes. This chapter seeks to analyse the agricultural activities of the district in two main areas: describe households in agriculture and discuss the types of farming activities of the households in agriculture.

Households in Agriculture

Table 7.1 shows that the district is made up of 20,262 households. Out of this number,14,515 (representing 71.6%) are engaged in agriculture activities. Out of the households engaged in agriculture activities, 66.8 percent are in the rural localities while 33.2 percent are in the urban areas.

Table 7.1 further shows that majority of households that are engaged in agriculture are crop farmers, with the rural localities representing 67.3 percent while the urban localities have 32.7 percent. On the other hand, whereas 74.4 percent of rural households are engaged in livestock farming, 25.6 percent of urban households are engaged in livestock farming.

Tree planting is the least form of agricultural activity in both urban and rural households. On the other hand, 55.8 percent of urban households engage in fish farming (Aquaculture) compared to 44.2 percent in the rural households. This could be attributed to easy access to inputs such as fingerlings, feed, security, etc., in the urban localities than it is in the rural areas.

Types of Livestock and Other Animals Reared

Table 7.2 presents the distribution of livestock by number of keepers in the district. The six most dominant livestock reared are chicken, fish, sheep, goats, cattle and pig farming. Chicken rearing in the district has 83,294 birds with 3,234 keepers, indicating an average of 26 chickens per keeper. There are 21,771 fish stocks with 50 keepers and an average of 435 45 fishes per keeper, followed by sheep rearing (13,910) with 1,043 keepers and an average of 13 sheep per keeper. The rest are goat rearing recording 3,426 animals with 263 keepers and an average of 13 goats per keeper, cattle rearing with 3,341 and 146 keepers, indicating an average of 23 animals per keeper and lastly, pig rearing with 2,292 and 130 keepers and an average of 21 pigs per keeper.