Location and Size

The Municipality has Axim as its capital and is located on the southern end of the region between longitude 20 05’ and 20 35’ west and latitudes 40 40’ and 50 20’, north with digital address WN- 001- 6226. This makes it one of the best destinations for tourism in the region. The Municipal map is shown in Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1: Nzema East Municipal in Regional Context Source:
Physical Planning Dept.2021

Landscape of the Municipality The landscape of the Municipality is generally undulating with the highest point at about 450 ft above sea level. The Municipality is mainly drained by the Ankobra River and its major tributarieslike the Ahama and Nwini rivers. The Ankobra River at some places sets the boundaries betweenNzema East and the Ellembelle District. Most of these rivers and streams flow throughout the year.

Figure 1.2: Nzema East Municipal Drainage Map Source:
Physical Planning Dept.2021

(a) Rock and Soil Type

The type of rocks in the Municipality are mostly featured by Cambrian Rocks of the Birimean formation and the Tarkwaian sandstone-Association Quartzite and Phyllites types which contain economic minerals like kaolin, silica, gold and sandstone deposits. The soil in the district is mainlyof the ferric aerosols and dysric fluvisolstype. The ferric acrisolstype ofsoil constitutes about 98percent of the entire land area and support cultivation of a wide range of crops including cocoa, coffee, coconut, oil palm, plantain and cassava (see www.ghanalocalassemblies.com/district/).

The soils in the Municipality are acidic and low in nutrients due to high leaching. Leaching is the result of the high rainfall in the Municipality hence only tree crops like rubber, cocoa and oil palmdo well in the municipality. The leaching processes exposes the rocks and therefore giving rise toa number of small scale mining companies and “galamsey’ (small scale illegal mining operations)in the Municipality. Though these offer potentials for employment generation, they also pose Environmental and Health hazards and challenges to the communities if the appropriate technologies and safeguards are not observed.

Figure 1.3: Nzema East Municipal Soil Types and Geology maps

(b) Climate (Temperature and Rainfall) Of the Municipality

The Municipality lies between the wet semi-equatorial climates zones of the West African Subregion. Rainfall is experienced throughout the year with temperatures between 2500 C – 300 C. According to Ghana Metrological Service, the average temperature in the Municipality is about 29.40 , and there are heavy rainfalls between 1800mm – 2000mm per annum. The double maximaperiods are in May – July and September – November as it peaks.

The capital of Nzema East Municipality Axim area still records the highest rainfall in the country with the yearly average ofabout 2000 millimeters of rainfalls. Mean annual rainfall figures range from 26.8mm to 46.6mm.The average temperature in the district is about 29 – 400 C with variation in the mean monthly temperature ranging between 400 C to 500 C throughout the year. The district records high relativehumidity figures ranging from 26.6 percent to 27.6 percent between May and June, and 27.3 percent to 27.9 percent during the rest of the year. The presence of double maxima rainfall pattern provides great potential for Agriculture in the Municipality.

Relief and Vegetation

The vegetation is made up of the moist semi-deciduous rain forest mainly in the northern part followed by secondary forest southwards. This is mainly due to human activities like tree fellingand farming of the coastal savanna in the south along the 30km coastal belt. All these comprise of large areas of forest resources which include various timber species and other non-timber forestgenerate resources for development. There are three forest reserves in the Municipality. These are shelter forest reserve, draw river reserve, and Ndumfri forest which is the largest among the three forest reserves. The availability of large proportions of bamboo also provides a potential environment forinvestment in bamboo related business in the municipality.