Economy of the District

The economy of the Krachi West District is dominated by the agriculture sector with the commerce and industrial sectors very underdeveloped. According to the 2010 Population and Housing Census, Agriculture alone accounts for about 72.2 per cent of the labour force in the district. Commerce accounts for 11%, while industry and other sectors account for 16.8 per cent. The common forms of agricultural activities are Crop Farming (87.5%) and Livestock Rearing (48.4%).

Tree planting and Fish Farming are the least common with no households in urban areas engaged in them. The proportion of Agricultural households engaged in Crop Farming in rural areas is (90.4%) greater than that of urban areas (63.8%). On the contrary, the proportion of rural agricultural households engaged in Livestock Rearing (47.2%) is lower than those in urban areas (57.9%). It is one of the major producers of roots and tuber crops such as yam, cassava, soya beans groundnut and others. About 60% of the fishermen come from other districts.

Therefore is important to modernize agriculture and encourage the development of agro-base industries and putting in place measures to ensure efficient utilization of the natural resource management through effective Environmental Assessment Mechanism (EAM) in the district. Source. (2010 Population and Housing Census Report.)

Royal Lakeside view hotel

Over 70 per cent of the fishermen comprised of settlers namely Tongus, Adas, Fantis, and Zambarima extractions who are not indigenes and mostly not permanently resident in the district.

Economic Activities in the District The major economic activities in the District are grouped into three; service/commerce, agriculture and industrial activities. The dominant occupation category in the district is agriculture which employs about 63% males and 37% females. The major activities performed under the agriculture sector are forestry, fishing and manufacturing. The service category employs about 22% males and 78% females.

The activities performed under the service category are basically human health and service work activities. The industry category also has activities like recreational activities, art and entertainment. It employs about 52% males and 48% females.

Bee keeping

Bee keeping is one of the economic activities. A local NGO known as Honeyweb has trained 100 people in bee keeping. The training offered opportunity to women and other vulnerable groups in the communities to engage in beekeeping which help them to earn income to support their families. The district seeks to support the industry to development so that more people could be employed.

District’s needs in enhancing Local Social and Economic Resources

The district in its quest to achieving LED has several needs; technical, business, educational, managerial, health, infrastructural and financial. Technically, the district needs to give technical training to its members in order to equip them with technical know-how. The Assembly further has need for initial start-up capital, access to market, warehouses and processing facilities in order to boost the growth of their businesses.

As way of developing the managerial skills of individuals, the Assembly needs an avenue to build the capacity of its members. Some of their educational needs are infrastructure, skilled personnel, in-service training for teachers and stationary to facilitate the teaching and learning process. In relation to health, the district has need for medicines, nurses, doctors, equipment, hospital and CHPS compounds. Infrastructural needs include Capital, good roads and potable water systems. Lastly, the district needs qualified staff and tools like stationary to handle their finances.

The Krachi West district has varied economic and social development expectations for the next four years. The economic expectations of the Assembly are a vibrant market, good road network and agro processing centres. The social expectations of the District are to develop tourist sites, construct feeder roads and provide decent accommodation for staff.

Marketing Activities in the District

The district has 5 market centres for trading activities, which are deemed insufficient for marketing activities because some of the communities are very far away from such centres (particularly, the island communities). Therefore, it would be good to have markets on these island communities as well. Marketing of products inside the district is achieved by displaying them at market centres. Though the markets in the district are not enough, their vibrancy draw traders from neighbouring districts and communities like Sene East (Kwame Danso), Krachi East (Dambai), Krachi Nchurmuru, Kpandia in Northern Region, Bimbila, Saboba, Kumasi, Accra and Sunyani.

To ensure smooth trading activities, the district assembly has constructed a warehouse for market women, and moderates the way marketing is done and ensure that the GPRTU operates smoothly. It also facilitates and encourage rural banks to give credit facility to the businesses in the district.

Banking

Only two Banking financial institutions operate in the district. A branch of the Ghana Commercial Bank and Krachi Rural Bank Limited. The other Non-banking financial institutions are Bayport Servings and Loans Company, Delex Financial Services and the Krachi Community Cooperative Credit Union (KCCCU) that is engaged mainly in micro-financing. It is worth mentioning that a Farm Loans Office of the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) operated in the entire then Krachi District for a few years but stopped business in 2009.