The Tolon District has a lot of opportunities awaiting- private investment, joint venture ship and the public sector. In the agricultural sector, studies have indicated that along the banks of the White Volta, irrigation farming is feasible and can take place throughout the year. In the two big dams at Bontanga and Golinga a sizeable number of the citizenry are engaged in the cultivation of different crops ranging from Vegetables to cereals. 

Available records show that the Tolon District has a comparative advantage over the other districts in the northern region due to its numerous potential. The District Assembly really encourages this dry season farming through its youth employment programme. It is worth noting that vegetables produced from these two (2) dams keep Tamale flooded with vegetables throughout the year. The district is also noted for the production of industrial crops like cotton. The District is endowed with vast of pasture suitable for livestock production. 

The District is blessed with a good breed of cows, sheep, goats, and pigs. Another area of investment yet undeveloped is the poultry industry. Though farming activities are hampered by problems such as inadequate credit facilities and inadequate access to extension service of late the high cost of farming inputs is putting serious impediment on large-scale production. A number of tourist attractions abound in the District which are largely untapped. 

Rains begin in May and end in the latter part of October, July to September is the peak period and the district experiences floods during the period.  The rest of the year is dry. The average of annual rainfall is 1000mm. As Ghana adopts policy of opening up the hinterlands to trade and investment, it is the avowed aim of the Tolon District to make the district a prime destination for private sector and bilateral/multi-lateral institutional investment to exploit its numerous economic and tourism potentials for the benefit of its citizens.

The overall development of a country depends on the production of goods and services. Critical to the production process is the human capital of the country. Although all persons irrespective of age and sex consume goods and services produced, only a section of the total population produces them: a working population often referred to as the “employed’. The type of economic activity pursued is influenced by nature of the economy and level of socio-economic development (Hull, 2009). Generally, the larger the employed population, the more wealth is created leading to the general well-being of the population (Ghana Statistical Service, 2013a). The method by which people organize themselves around productive activity and the stratification processes that are associated with differentiation of labour are fundamental characteristics of a society.

This section focuses on several dimensions of work and the rewards of work (i.e. income and wealth). Productive capacity in any country and economic performance is mainly measured by the size of its productive workforce. The legal working age in Ghana is 15 years. However, it should be noted that, individuals below this age are often found in various areas engaging in economic activity. There is evidence that children below 15 years of age engage in a variety of economic enterprises.

This section analyzes economic characteristics of the population 15 years and older. It is recognized, however, that a substantial proportion of the country’s potential workforce may be pursuing a variety of non-economic activities, such as going to school. Such persons are excluded from the active workforce, and are referred to as economically not active. There is a second group which includes individuals who are regarded as economically active, either employed or not working at the time of the census. They include individuals with jobs who were on leave, and those currently unemployed, but actively seeking employment (Ghana Statistical Service, 2013).

Economic Activities

Table 4.1 shows population 15 years and older by activity status and sex. The activity status involves “economically active”, employed, unemployed, and “economically not active”. The total population is 41,109. Out of this, proportion of the economically active population that is gainfully employed is 97.7 percent as against the unemployed figure of 2.3 percent. The “economically not active” population recorded 19.5 percent.

The table also shows that, of males who fall within the economically active population, about nine out of ten (98.3%) are employed and those who are unemployed are less than two percent (1.7%). The “economically not active population among males is 18.3 percent. There is a marginal difference when it comes to females within the economically active. The female employed population also recorded a high percentage of 97.2 percent as compared to the unemployed figure of 2.8 percent. The “economically not active” among the female population is 20.7 percent.

Figure 4.1 describes the pattern of economic activity status of ages 15 years and older by sex and age group. It could be noticed that as age increases, there is a decrease in employment levels but gradually fluctuates from ages 50-54 years. In the 15-19 years age group more males are employed than females, but this suddenly changes from age 20-44 years to 40-44 years where the employed females outnumber their male counterparts in the district. The males later gain their lead as age continues to increase.

Table 4.2 shows the activity status of the employed population 15 years and older by sex and age. Of 7,149 persons in the 15-19 years age group, 67.2 percent are employed, 1.5 percent are unemployed and 31.3 percent are economically not active. About 41 percent of persons in the 65+ year age group are economically not active while the employed constitute 59 percent.

The data also displays employed population in terms of sex. It indicates a total of 19, 851 males, out of which 80.3 percent are employed compared to 1.4 percent unemployed and 18.3 percent “economically not active” males. The females sum up to 21,258, of whom 77.1 percent are employed compared to 2.2 percent unemployed and 20.7 percent “economically not active”.

Occupation

Occupation largely focuses on specific economic activities that people engage in for their livelihood. In the 2010 PHC, occupation was considered as economic activities that individuals engaged in to earn a living in cash or in kind (Ghana Statistical Service, 2013).

The district’s total population in various occupations, as indicated in table 4.3, is 32,340, with more female (16,392) than males (15,948). The main occupation of employed persons in the district is “skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers” constituting almost 88.8 percent, followed by craft and related workers” (4.7%), “Service and sales workers” (3.3%) and “Other occupations” having the lowest is.

It is also revealed that, among males, the most occurring occupation is “Skilled agricultural forestry and fishery workers” (92.5%). The rest of the occupations for males form less than five percent. There is no significant variation when it comes to the females as majority is in the “skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers” sector (85.3%). The remaining set of occupations for females in the Tolon District is below 14 percent.