Introduction

The 2010 Population and Housing Census (PHC) with reference date 26th September 2010, was a "de facto" count of all the persons present in Ghana and particularly in this context the KassenaNankana West District (KNWD). Like all the previous post independence censuses, the 2010 PHC solicited responses and gathered data to help determine such important demographic characteristics as the population size; population distribution by age, sex and locality; migration patterns as well as fertility and mortality rates.

The objective of this chapter is to analyse the size or numbers of persons in the KNWD; the distribution of these numbers by sex, age and locality type (rural and urban) within the district using data from the 2010 PHC. In view of the fact that changes in any population are brought about through the dynamics of fertility, mortality and migration, these phenomena in the district are also analysed in order to understand the state dimensions they assume.

Population Size and Distribution

Age and sex composition of a given population constitute important population characteristics in any demographic analysis, and as a result usually receive attention. From table 2.1, the district has a total population of 70,667 representing 6.8 percent of the population of Upper East Region. With an area of 872.8 square kilometres, the district has a population density of 81 persons per square kilometre. The proportion of the female population (50.8%) in the district is slightly higher than that of males (49.2%). The age category with the highest population is 5-9 constituting 6.9 percent of the total district population.

Age-Sex Structure

The district has a relatively high proportion of its population within the youthful ages (0-24 years). This is demonstrated by a population pyramid with a broad base and a narrow top which gives it a conical shape (Figure 1.1). About 60 percent of the population is aged 0-24 years.

The age structure affects general fertility rate and ultimately the nature of changes that are likely to occur in the population. Birth and death rates are influenced by the proportions of people in the different ages. Other things being equal, populations that have comparatively large numbers of elderly are likely to record more deaths and fewer births each year than population of equal size that is made of a large proportion of young people within the reproductive ages.

The above characteristics imply the need for the provision of basic social services such as schools, health centres, boreholes, toilets among others. The females constitute 51.9 percent of the population of the district; there is therefore the need to actively involve them in decision making processes. Also, it can be seen that a total of 38,542 people are in the working class representing 55.0 percent of the total population. This clearly indicates that majority of the populace are in the working class.

Male

Table 2.2 shows the population size of Upper East Region and the KNWD by locality of residence and sex. From the table, the total population of Upper East Region is 1,046,545 while KNWD is 70,667. Out of the district total population, 34,747 are males and 35,920 are females. The sex ratio of the total population is 96.7, implying there are about 97 males for 20  every 100 females. The ratio shows a larger proportion of females in the population of the district.

The rural population is 60,792, about six times that of urban (9,875). Also, out of the total population of the district, females constitute the majority (50.83%) and the remaining 49.17 percent are males. The percentage of male in the rural area is greater than those in the urban. However, the situation is the reverse for female population by locality. About 52.7 percent of the female population in the district live in urban areas while 50.5 lived in the rural area.

Age-Dependency Ratio by Locality

The age-dependency ratio is theoretically indicative of the economic burden of the potential working population - the smaller the ratio, the lesser the economic burden. The determination of the ratio is predicated on the assumption that all persons less than 15 years or 65 years and older do not work or cannot work and therefore depend on others. Additionally, it also assumes that all persons aged 15-64 years are working; this is not so in reality.

The age dependency ratio is conventionally defined as the population aged less 15 years and 65 years and older divided by the population in the 15-64 years age group multiplied by 100. From Table 2.3, the age-dependency ratio of the district is 83.35. This means that every 100 people in the economically active population of KNWD have about 83 people to take care of.

The male age-dependency ratio (88.12) is greater than that of female (78.96) signifying that there are more male dependants than female dependants in the population of KNWD. Age-dependency ratio for rural areas (85.17) was also greater than that for urban (72.91). It is greater in the rural areas because the populations of the dependent age groups, that is, 0-14 (23,303) and 65+ (4,658) in the rural areas are more than their respective populations of 3,514 and 650 in urban areas.

Fertility, Mortality and Migration,

Fertility

Fertility is viewed as the actual production of children. It is defined as the number of live births women have during their reproductive life time. In the 2010 Population and Housing Census, the data on fertility were collected from females aged 12 years and older. Table 2.4 shows the data on fertility indicators for KassenaNankana West District, compared with the other districts and the region.

Total fertility rate is a measure of the average number of children that would be born alive to a woman throughout her reproductive life span, with the assumptions that; she would survive the full period of her child bearing ages and also considering the fact that she would follow the fertility performance of each age group of women during the child bearing ages. The total fertility rate for KassenaNankana West District is 2.78, which is less than the regional rate (3.45). GaruTempane District has the highest total fertility rate (3.90) among the districts in the region.

The other fertility measures presented in the table include General Fertility Rate (GFR) and crude birth rate (CBR). From the table, KassenaNankana West District has the lowest general fertility rate of 77.82 in the region while Builsa District recorded the highest of 109.17, Builsa District recorded the highest (25.33) crude birth rate in the region while, KassenaNankana West District recorded the lowest rate of 18.52.

Table 2.5 provides information on female population 12 years and older by age, children ever born, children surviving and sex of child in the district. The table shows that the total number of female children ever born to the female population 12 years and older in the district is 35,684 with a total number of 28,090 children surviving.

The proportion of male to female children ever born is 36,757 and 35,684 respectively and that for the children surviving 28,705 and 28,090 for males and females respectively. The total number of females within the ages of 12 years and older is 25,462 with age group 60 plus having the highest proportion (4,020) followed by age group 15-19 with 3,998 and the age group with the least proportion 22 is 55-59 (852). It is also important to note that more of the population of females 12 years and older are youth (12-34) constituting about 59.1 percent.

The table also indicates that total number of children ever born by females 12 years and older is 72,441 with male children forming about 50.7 percent. However, the age group with the highest number of children ever born is 60+ constituting 21,381. The trend remains almost same for children surviving, however, it is important to note that about 78.4 percent of children ever born in the district survived. It is also worth noting from the table that apart from age group 20-24 where females are more in both children ever born and surviving, male children andsurviving male children and surviving dominate in all the age categories of the population.

2 Mortality

Mortality, as one of the three components of population, plays an important role in determining the growth of a population. The level and pattern of mortality is a reflection of the health status of a population.

Causes of death in household

Table 2.6 presents Causes of death in households by district in Upper East region. From the table, KassenaNankana West District recorded as many as 566 deaths, constituting about five percent of all deaths in the region. About 8.3 percent of these deaths are due to Accident, violence, homicide or suicide while 91.7 percent were due to all other causes. With regard to pregnancy related deaths, the district has one of the least proportions, accounting for only 0.7 percent together with three other districts. Pusiga District has the lowest pregnancy related deaths in the region accruing for just 0.5 percent.

Age-specific death rate (ASDR)

Age-specific death rate (ASDR) is the number of deaths of people in a specified age group per 1,000 population of that age group. Figure 2.1 presents the ASDR for males and females in the district. The graph shows that ASDR for male was higher than that for females. This could be due to high mortality rate in view of inadequate health facilities and personnel in the district.

However, while some age groups have almost the same ASDR for both sexes (35-39, 20-24, 25-29, 10-14 and 5-9), some age groups had extremely high ASDR (65-69 and 70 plus). The graph also shows that on age group under five, male death rate is higher than female. This could be attributed to the fact that females within that age have an immune system that fights disease causing organisms. However, within age group 15-19, female death rate is higher than male.

Crude Death Rate

Of the total population of 70,667 in the district, about 566 household deaths were reported with a crude death rate of 8.0, lower than the regional crude Death Rate of 10.8.

Migration

Table 2.4 presents information on internal migrants who were enumerated in the district. A total of 8,615 migrants were enumerated in the district. Out of that total number, 5,322 were born elsewhere in the region. Among all the migrants, the number of people who have resided in the district for 20 years or more constitute the highest percentage of 32.6. The least percentage, 12.5, are those who have resided in the district for a period less than one year.

Among migrants who were born elsewhere in another region other than the Upper East Region, there are more people born in the Ashanti Region (1,621) than any of the other regions. The number of those born in Upper West Region (378) is the second largest while the number born in Volta Region (70) is the least.

These migrants born elsewhere in other regions have resided in the district for varying periods of time. Among the migrants who are born in the Western and Central Regions for instance, the greatest percentages (29.1) and (33.6) respectively have resided in the district for less than one year. It can also be deduced from the table that, 628 people are born outside Ghana and 37.4% have resided in the district for 20 plus years.