Relief and Drainage

The district forms part of the country’s dissected plateau. The greater proportion of this plateau is between 240m and 300m above sea level. There are few valleys that do not exceed 150m above sea level. The district is endowed with a number of rivers and streams, the most important of which is the Bia River. The streams and rivers exhibit a dendritic pattern, which forms the Bia basin. The relief and drainage systems favour the development of fish farming, and cultivation of valley bottom rice, sugarcane and dry season vegetables.

Geology and Mineral Deposits

The Bia West District is endowed with a combination of phyllite, schist, tuff and greywacke which contain the mineral bearing rocks. There are also granite rocks and deposits of minerals like gold have been discovered in Yawmatwa, Oseikojokrom and Essam Debiso.

Climate

The Bia West District forms part of the wet semi-equatorial climatic zone. The area experiences two main seasons namely wet and dry seasons. The wet season occurs between April and October while the dry season is between November and March. Mean annual rainfall figures ranges from 1,250mm - 2,000mm. The mean annual temperature of the district is between 25.5°C and 26.5°C. The area records high relative humidity figures ranging from 75% - 90% during the wet season to 70% - 80% during the dry season. The climate of the district is suitable for the growing of various cash and food crops. This is the reason why the district is one of the leading producers of the cash crop like cocoa in Ghana.

Soils

The district being largely part of the forest zone of the country has a wide area covered with the forest ochrosols. The rich forest ochrosols and oxysols soils contribute to the cultivation of cash crops such as cocoa, palm tree, cola, coffee and cashew and food crops like plantains, cocoyam, cassava and maize.

Vegetation

The district’s vegetation is of the moist semi-deciduous (equatorial rain forest) type. The forest vegetation is made up of many different tree species including wawa (Triplochitonselerexylon), mahogany (Khayainvorensis), esa (Celtis), ofram (Terminaliasuperba), edinam (Entandrophragmaivorensio), onyina (Ceibapetandra), kyenkyen (Antiaris Africana) and odum (Miliciaexelsa). There are two forest reserves in the district: Bia North and Bia South forest reserves. The former is a protected reserve while the latter is a productive reserve where timber harvesting is done.