Ejisu-Juaben District

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Ejisu-Juaben District
Location of the Ejisu-Juaben district within the Ashanti region
country GhanaGhana Ghana
region Ashanti region
Capital Ejisu
District shape common
District Chief Executive Yaw Ahenkra Afrifa
surface 637.2 km²
population 144,272 (2006)
Population density 226 Ew. / km²
ISO 3166-2 GH-AH-EJ

The Ejisu-Juaben District is one of 138 districts in Ghana . It is located in the center of the country in the Ashanti region and is one of 21 regional districts. The Ejisu-Juaben District borders the Asante Akim North , Asante Akim South , Kwabre , Sekyere East , Amasie East , Botsomtwe / Atwima / Kwamhuma and Kumasi Metropolitan districts . Chief Executive of the 678 km² district with approx. 144,272 inhabitants is Yaw Ahenkra Afrifa based in the district capital Ejisu .

geography

The average temperatures are between 20 degrees Celsius in August and 32 degrees Celsius in March. The district lies in the wet forest zone and is mostly covered with rainforest. Many of the trees are also hardwoods in great demand for export.

Due to the heavy rainfall during the rainy seasons between July and August and between March and April, which reach an annual rainfall between 1200 mm and 1500 mm, some parts of the district are affected by precipitation-related erosion. Especially in the places Besease, Kokobra, Kwaso and Ejisu this had already visible effects. The decline in forest cover and the extensification of agriculture have also made some parts of the district susceptible to erosion damage.

population

The population in the district is made up of 86 percent from the Akan peoples. Three percent of the district's population are Ewe , 1 percent are Ga and 9.3 percent are peoples from northern Ghana. 87 percent of the population are Christians, 9.7 percent are Muslims, 1.7 percent followers of traditional religions and 1.7 percent belong to another or no religion.

Two Paramount Chiefs continue to have great influence at the local level to this day. One Paramount Chief is the chief of Ejisu, the Ejisumanhene , and another is the chief of Juaben, the Juabenmanhene . In Juaben, Tuesday is traditionally the “taboo” day on which work is suspended, in Ejisu Sunday is the “taboo” day.

Well-known traditional festivals in the district are Akwasidea, Awukudae and Fofie. In recognition of the great traditional Queen Yaa Asantewaa of the Ashanti, the Yaa Asantewaa Festival was celebrated for the first time in August 2006. This festival is now to be held every two years in the first week of August.

In 2005 there were 120,869 people in the Ejisu-Juaben District, of whom 63,456 were women (52.5 percent) and 57,413 were men (47.5 percent). In 1960, with only 44.0 percent of the population, only 21,264 women and with 56 percent 27,064 men lived in the district, a total of around 48,328 inhabitants that year. In 2006, 144,272 people lived in the district.

The population consists of 50.2 percent men and 49.8 percent women. 58.5 percent of the population are in the age group between 15 and 64 years. 38.5 percent of the residents are under 15 years old, only 3 percent have reached the age of 65 years. Another calculation compares 100 people from the working age group of 70 dependent children or old people.

91.7 percent of the population are aware of the various methods of family planning, a further 8.3 percent use traditional methods or do no family planning at all. 44 percent of this situation is due to the use of health workers and 56 percent to education from the media. 92.1 percent of the population live in monogamous relationships, 7.1 percent in polygamous family structures.

Of the 84 settlements in the district, 69.82 percent are counted among the village settlements with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants. Only the five places Ejisu , Juaben , Bonwire , Fumesua and Kwamo count as urban settlements with over 5000 inhabitants. 30.18 percent of the district's population live in these five settlements, 9.2 percent live in the district capital Ejisu alone. 65 settlements have a population of over 400 people.

economy

The main economic activity in the district is agriculture, followed by the service sector and industry. In the population, the unemployment rate, at 62.5 percent, is almost twice as high as the unemployment rate among men, at 37.5 percent. 78.4 percent of the population pay taxes. Of taxpayers, 63.9 percent spend less than 100,000 cedis on tax. A total of 32 percent of taxpayers spend 101,000–200,000 Cedis, and 4.1 percent pay more than 200,000 Cedis.

Agriculture

As in almost all districts of the Ashanti region in Ghana, the Ejisu-Juaben District is economically dominated by agriculture. 55.6 percent of the workforce work in this area. Of all farmers, 87.2 percent use farmland in the Ejisu-Juaben District, the remaining 12.8 percent cultivate land in neighboring districts.

Of all farms, 94.1 percent only grow crops, 5.9 percent are mixed farms with arable and livestock farming, and no farm exclusively keeps cattle. The farms are mainly subsistence farms, i.e. farms for self-sufficiency. The main crops are corn, plantains , cassava , yam and vegetables. Cocoa and palm oil are also grown for sale .

Of all field crops, 90.1 percent grow different products, only 9.9 percent are monocultures. 48.5 percent of the farms use field rotation as a traditional cultivation method. This method is becoming increasingly ineffective due to the growing population. As a result, 45.5 percent of farms do without changing fields to regenerate the soil. This carries the risk of the soil being depleted. Another 6 percent of farmers do crop rotation in the fields.

54.4 percent of the farmland is owned by a family member and is leased or made available. 28.8 percent cultivate their own land, 16.5 percent have leased land from third parties.

service

23.8 percent of the employees work in the district. 83.4 percent of those working in the service sector are retailers and 13.4 percent are wholesalers. Of all those employed in the service sector, 91.7 percent are blue-collar workers and 8.3 percent are self-employed.

Industry and craft

8 percent of employees work in industry. 73.7 percent of the companies depend on material deliveries from other districts. The remaining 26.3 percent get their raw materials from the district.

The wood processing industry is the largest industrial sector with 42.1 percent. 36.8 percent of the companies are based in the traditional Kente weaving mill. 21.1 percent of those working in the industrial sector work in the metalworking trade. 83.5 percent of industrial companies use electrical energy for production processes, only 16.5 percent use gasoline or diesel.

education

In 2005 there were 122 kindergartens and crèches in the Ejisu-Juaben District. 76 of these were public institutions, 46 private. 134 elementary schools, 88 public schools and 46 private schools were opened throughout the district. In 2005 there were 558 teachers working in primary schools, 515 of whom had vocational training.

77 Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) operate in the district, 56 of which are publicly operated and 21 private. Approx. 8,000 students are taught by 411 trained and 21 non-professional teachers in the JSS. Another six senior secondary schools (five public and one private) operate in the district.

72.3 percent of the total population can read and write. 57.3 percent of the population attended the JSS or a higher school.

health

Polluted water in the Ejisu-Juaben District still infects people with diseases such as typhus , cholera , worms and schistosomiasis . 58.2 percent of the diseases that can be traced back to contaminated water are typhoid infections, 31.6 percent schistosomiasis, 2.5 percent guinea worm, 6.3 percent cholera and 1.3 percent skin diseases.

Infrastructure

38.7 percent of the population is supplied with tap water. 31 percent take water from springs and wells, 0.3 percent from rivers and 30 percent from boreholes. 83 percent of people use the water from the respective water supply facilities without any further treatment. Of the remaining 17 percent, 37.5 percent purify the water by heating it, 18.8 percent filter the water, 37.5 percent use chlorine and 6.3 percent heat the water after it has been filtered.

In the sanitary area, the population is mainly supplied with public toilet facilities.

The most important source of energy in the district is firewood. 48.5 percent of people use wood to prepare their meals, 0.7 percent use electricity, 13.7 percent gas and 37.1 percent charcoal. On average, 2.12 km have to be traveled to purchase the energy source used every day.

The main source of light in Ejisu-Juaben is electric light. 69.2 percent of people use electricity and thus basically have access to the electrical grid. Kerosene lamps are used by 30.4 percent, candles by 0.3 percent.

Constituencies

The Ejisu-Juaben district forms a constituency of the same name. In this, Akwasi Osei-Adjei won the seat in the Ghanaian parliament for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2004 parliamentary elections.

Important localities

See also

Web links