Introduction

The Atiwa West District Assembly is one of the District Assemblies in the Eastern Region of Ghana, it was granted its present status by the Legislative Instrument (LI) 1784 of 2004. It was carved from the then East Akim District Assembly now East Akim Municipal Assembly, in the year 2004. Its Capital is Kwabeng which is situated at the foot of the Atiwa West Range.

The profile of any given locality serves as an information bank with regard to the vulnerability of its population to nature as well as human-made risks and shocks, their management arrangements and adaptation challenges. This section gives a brief sketch of the establishment of the Atiwa West District, the physical conditions and social realities.

Location and Size

The Atiwa West District which covers a total area of 2,950 square kilometers is one of the twenty-one Districts in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Lying between longitudes O° 3? West and O° 50 East and latitudes 6° 10? North and 6° 30? North. The District is bounded on the North by Kwahu West and Kwahu South Districts, on the North-East by the Fanteakwa District, East Akim to the South-East, Kwaebibrim to the South and Birim North to the West.

The strategic location of Atiwa West District, sharing boundaries with districts that are famous in agricultural production, provides an opportunity to develop agro processing facilities to make use of raw materials from these areas.The large area under the jurisdiction of the District has implication for many small settlements whose population may not measure up to the population threshold for provision of certain socio-economic infrastructure. And being a relatively new districts it may also require enough financial resources to be able to close the infrastructure gap.

The District has a total estimated population of 110,622. (2010, Population and Housing Census Report). The district is divided into seven (7) Town/Area Councils namely Kwabeng, Anyinam, Sekyere, Abomosu, Asamang-Tamfoe, Akropong and Kadewaso.