STRUCTURE OF THE DISTRICT ECONOMY

The economy of the Upper West Akim District is predominantly agrarian and it is notable for the production of cassava in large quantities and other cash crops like cocoa and oil palm which are the major economic drive and revenue source of the district.

About 56.9% of the active population, (thus 15 years and older) are employed in agricultural activities, forestry and fishery, 28.4% employed in the commerce/service sector whiles the remaining 14.7% are employed in the manufacturing/mining sectors. The commerce/service sector is mostly dominated by women.

About 73.6 percent of the population aged 15 years and older are economically active while 26.4 percent are economically not active. Of the economically active population, 96.7 percent are employed while 3.3 percent are unemployed. For those who are economically not active, a larger percentage of them are students (43.1%), 24.8% perform household duties and 6.8 percent are disabled or too sick to work. Seven out of ten (66.1%) unemployed are seeking work for the first time

95.1% of the economically active population is employed in the private informal sector. The private informal sector therefore has the largest employment. There is therefore the need for the District Assembly to develop policies and programmes that promote the development and competitiveness of this sector.

Economic Activity Status

Table 4.1 shows the population 15years and older in the Upper West Akim District by economic activity status and sex. The data shows that there are 51,605 persons 15 years and older out of which 37,977 are economically active and 13,628 are economically inactive. For the economically active persons, 96.7 percent are employed and 3.3 percent are unemployed. Those who are economically inactive are 26.4 percent, of which the population of this group in full time education is 43.1 percent, followed by those engaged in home duties or household chores (24.8%) or too young/too old to work (14.7%)

Economic activities vary for male and female population 15 years and older. Table 4.1 shows that there are more females (19,385) than males (18,045) who are economically active, and also more females (7,683) than males (5,945) who are economically inactive. The proportion employed is however, higher for the males (97.1 %) than for the females (96.4%) and the proportion unemployed is 3.6 percent higher for the females than for the males (2.9%). The percentage of the economically inactive males in full time education is 56.9 percent higher than the females (32.4%). But more females (31.0%) than males (16.9%) did home duties (household chores).

Table 4.2 provides information on the population of persons aged 15 years and older by sex, age and activity status. From the table, out of the population 15 years and older, 22.7 percent are unemployed, 75.6 percent employed and 21.5 percent economically not active.

In the District, majority of employed population fall within the age group of 25-59 (86-96%) years whiles the unemployed are in the age group of 15-24 years (5-8%). Majority (36-71%) of the economically not active population fall within the age groups 15-24 and 60+ years.

Out of the male population aged 15 years and older, employed males constitute 77.3 percent whiles the employed females represent 74.1 percent within their respective populations. 32

On the other hand, unemployed males within the male population 15 years and older constitute 2.3 percent whiles the female population has 3.4 percent unemployed females.

Occupation

Table 4.2 gives information of persons 15years and older by occupation and sex. The Table shows that there are 36,736 persons aged 15 years and older employed in various occupations in the district. This is made up of 18,045 males and 18,691 females showing that there are more females than males in the district employed in all occupations. There are as many as 20,825 (65%) persons engaged in skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery sector in the district. This sector employs the highest number of persons age 15 years and older in the district. This confirms that the district is dominantly agricultural. The second occupation is craft and related trades which employ 6,131 or 16.7 percent of workers and the third is service and sales workers which are 5,263 (14.3%). The sector with the least employment of persons 15 years and older in the district is the clerical support workers which employs only 114 person or 0.3 per cent.

For the sexes, skilled agricultural forestry and fishery leads as the main occupation for both males and females employing more males (68.2%) than females (45.5%). The service and sales workers have more females (23.2%) than males (5.1%) and again more females (21.7%) than males (11.5%) work as craft and related trades workers.

Table 4.3 shows the employed population 15 years and older in industry in the district. The data shows that of 36,736 persons 15 years and older who are employed in industry, more than half (56.9%) work in the agricultural, forestry and fishing industries followed by wholesale and retail, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (13.5%) and manufacturing (13.0%).

Employment in industry varies for the sexes. Agricultural, forestry and fishing is the main industry for both males and females but employs more males (68.8%) than females (45.5%). The second industry is the wholesale and retail, repair of motor vehicles and motor cycles which employs more females (20.1%) than males (6.7%), followed by manufacturing industry which employs 19.0 percent of females compared to 6.9 percent of males.

Economic Activity Status and Age

Table 4.4 shows the economic activity status of the population 15 years and older in the district by sex and age. The data shows that there are 51,605 persons in the district who are 15 years and older of which 36,736 or 71.2 percent are employed and 1,241 or 2.4 percent are unemployed. A further 13,628 or 26.4 percent of them are economically not active. Among the age groups, the proportion employed is highest (93.5%) for age group 45-49 years followed by age group 40-44 with 91.4 percent. For the unemployed, the age group 20-24 has the highest percentage of 6.0 point followed by 25-29 age group. The age group with the highest proportion of economically not active persons is 15-19 years with 70.5 percent followed by age 65 years and older (41.7%).

Variations exist for the sexes. The proportion employed is higher for males (73.5%) than for the females (69.1%) but more females (6.7%) than males (5.3%) are unemployed in age group 20-24 years. Females who are economically not active are 72.9 percent for age group 15-19 years compared to 68.4 percent for males in same age group.