Introduction

Ghana’s economy is regarded as agrarian, largely due to the sector’s contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In view of this, majority of the economically active population in the Sene East District are engaged in agriculture. This chapter discusses households engaged in agricultural activities and non-agricultural households in the district. It also discusses types of farming activities and types of livestock, numbers and keepers in the district.

Households in Agriculture

Figure 7.1 presents information on households in agriculture and non- agricultural households in the district. The Figure indicates that, nearly three-quarters (73.2%) of households in the district are engaged in agriculture while just about a quarter (26.8%) of households in the district are not engaged in agriculture. The higher proportion of households in agriculture can be attributed to the fact that, the district is wholly rural.

Types of Farming Activities

Table 7.1 shows the distributions of agricultural households in the district in four major farming activities. The four major activities include crop farming, tree planting, livestock rearing and fish farming. From the table, 8,198 agricultural households in the district are engaged in different farming activities. It shows that, households can be engaged in one or more farming activities in the district. The predominant farming type among agricultural households is crop farming (86.0%) followed by livestock rearing (56.5%). Exactly one percent of households are engaged in tree growing with only 0.3 percent involved in fish farming.

Types of Livestock and other Animals Reared

Table 7.2 presents types of livestock, the number of livestock reared and number of keepers in the district. The district has about 187,387 total livestock reared by 7,890 keepers, giving an average livestock per keeper as 24 livestock. This could mean that, a keeper may be rearing more than one kind of livestock. The table shows that, chicken rearing is predominant in the district. It shows that, 93,819 chickens are being reared by 3,404 keepers with an average of 28 chickens per keeper in the district. Goats are the second most (23,422) prominent animal reared representing 12.5 percent of all animals reared in the district with 49

1,694 keepers and each keeper having an average of 14 goats. The third and fourth dominant animals reared in the district are cattle (21,619) and sheep (19,664) by 705 and 963 keepers respectively. Averagely, each of these keepers has 31 cattle and 20 sheep respectively. A few people in the district rear doves, pigs, and guinea fowls. Only 3 farmers in the district are into fish farming. The table also reveals that, few farmers are also engaged in silk worm, turkey, ostrich and grass-cutters in the district.