Introduction

Agriculture is one of the major activities that contribute to the growth of the economy. It is a source of employment to majority of the population. Agricultural products are consumed both locally and internationally and hence, are one of the major income earners of the economy. The 2010 population and housing census is the first to capture information on agricultural activities which include crop farming, tree planting, livestock rearing and fish farming. This chapter analyzes data pertaining to agricultural activities of households in the Municipality.

Household in Agriculture

In the 2010 Census, an agricultural household was defined as one in which, at least, one person in the household was engaged in any type of farming activity, namely crop farming, tree growing, livestock rearing and fish farming. Table 7.1 shows the proportion of households engaged in any form of agricultural activities by urban and rural localities. The District recorded a total of 65.2 percent agricultural households as of 2010. The proportions of urban households engaged in agricultural activities are 39.5 percent compared to 84.4 percent of the rural households. The high proportion of agricultural households in rural areas is basically due to the fact that agriculture is essentially a rural activity.

Types of farming activities

Table 7.1 shows that majority of the household members (96.6%) engaged in agricultural activities are into crop farming, followed by livestock rearing (35.1%). Households engaged in tree planting and fish farming are less than one percent (0.8% and 0.0%). The proportion of crop farmers in the rural areas (98.8%) is higher than that of the urban areas (90.3%). Generally, farming activities are higher in the rural areas than the urban areas.

Types of Livestock and Other Animals

Table 7.2 shows the distribution of livestock and livestock keepers in the Municipality. The table indicates that the total number of livestock in the Municipality is 144,459 with 7,286 keepers who are barely less than one percent.. The average animal per keeper is 20. Chicken production is the highest, constituting 58.9 percent of the total livestock reared in the municipality, followed by goats (16.1%) and sheep (8.5%). The number of keepers follows the same trend with chicken keepers constituting 41.7 percent, goat keepers 25.6 percent and sheep keepers 13.3 percent. The average number of livestock per keeper is highest for fish farming (321) followed by snail farming (114) and pig is the lowest with only eight (8) pigs.