GHANA PASSPORT FORMS

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THE ECONOMY OF TANO SOUTH DISTRICT, BECHEM-BRONG AHAFO REGION

BRIEF PROFILE OF THE DISTRICT
Bechem, the District capital is about 54 km from Sunyani, the regional capital
of Brong Ahafo and 76 km to Kumasi, the commercial and regional capital of
Ashanti Region. The rest of the population lives in settlements less than 5,000
making them rural in perspective.

               Road and transport Infrastructure
1. The District has about 29km of tarred roads, connecting the major towns with
over 250km of feeder roads that provides access to farming communities.

Telecommunication Sector
2. In addition to the fixed line telephone service, the Assembly is connected to
the five mobile telecommunication services, namely MTN, Vodafone, Tigo,
Airtel and Expresso.
3. There are also two internet service providers located in the two major towns
of Bechem and Techimantia. With the existence of mobile services, modems
are also widely used for internet services.

Radio Communication
4. Due to the proximity of the District to Kumasi and Sunyani, it falls within the
radius of the frequency modulation (FM) stations of the afore-mentioned
regional capitals. These stations are instruments for disseminating information
on national and international news; promoting good governance,
entertainment, advertising and promotion of goods and services in the
district.

Light Industrial Site
5. The Assembly, in collaboration with German Technical Co-operation (GIZ),
has developed an industrial site at Bechem to accommodate all small and
medium scale industries at one location to promote economies of scale and
reduce all environmental nuisance created all over the central business area.
6. The boost of a well-equipped Rural Technology Facility to trained artisans;
fabricate equipment’s, tools, implements and basic industrial and agricultural
/agro-processing machines and implements.

Facilities at the site include provision of potable water, electricity, road
networks, toilet facility and mobile telecommunication networks.

Water Supply
7. Approximately 40 percent of the district’s population has access to potable
water. The main sources of potable water includes small town water system
(stand pipes), mechanized borehole, point source (borehole and hand dug
wells). Other sources of water include rivers and streams which are mostly
used in the rural areas.

Education
8. The various categories of educational institutions, their ownership and
numbers are shown in the table below.
Table 1: Educational Facilities in the District

         LEVEL AND PUBLIC PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN THE DISTRICT
                                        Public      Private
1 Pre-school                         53          13
2 Primary                              54          13
3 JHS                                   32          10
4 SHS                                    2             1
5 Voc/Tech.                            2            1
6 College of Education            1            0

Health
9. Distribution of health facilities in the district is skewed in favour of large
towns such as Bechem, Techimantia and Derma
10. There are 6 health facilities. This consists of a District Hospital, 3 health
centres and 2 CHPS compounds.Tano South District Assembly Page 16
Tourist Receptive Sites/Lodging
11. The Bosomkese Forest reserve has a variety of tree species, some of which
serve as medicinal plants and can also be used for carving and wood works.
The forest reserve serves as a habitat for several species of wild life and a
water shed for the rivers and streams within the district.
12. The Ceiba tree (Onyinakyere) at Dwomo is a historical tourist site. It is said to
have been commanded by Komfo Anokye to move from the centre of a road
to its present place and is now a shrine for the people of Dwomo.
13. The traditional shrines in the District serve as centres for cultural and religious
studies. They include Taa Dwomo at Dwomo, Daa at Derma and Ahwintakum
at Bechem.
14. Majority of the lodging facilities are concentrated in Bechem, the district
capital and Techimantia. Other facilities include restaurants, entertainment
centres and club houses.

Industry
15. Industrial activities in the district consist of wood processing and agroprocessing. The industrial activities range from highly mechanised activities to
those requiring very few simple tools. Other industries includes but not limited
to:
 Household industries
 Woodworks
 Food processing eg. Gari, Palm oil extraction etc
 Small/medium scale manufacturing like soap making, textiles etc
 Blacksmithing

Financial Institutions
16. There is one commercial bank namely Ghana Commercial Bank and 2 rural
banks in the District namely, Derma and Bomaa Rural banks. The banking Tano South District Assembly Page 17
institutions are located in the urban areas of Bechem, Derma and
Techimantia.
17. Because of low accessibility to these institutions from remote communities,
there are “Susu” Collectors within the District.
Non-banking Institutions
18. There are a number of non-banking institutions, such as State Insurance
Company (SIC), and other micro-credit institutions.

Agricultural Activities
19. The economic activities in the Assembly are predominantly agricultural.
Agricultural activities in the district are centred mainly on crop production.
Agriculture employs about 64% of the potential labour force. 52% of these
are males and 48% are females. There is no large scale farming activities in
the district, implying that agriculture is basically subsistence.
20. The major food crops grown are maize, cassava, plantain, and cocoyam.
Major vegetables grown are tomatoes, garden egg, okro, and pepper. Cash
crops grown include cocoa, oil palm, coffee and cashew.

Dependency Ratios
21. The dependency ratio simply shows the ratio between the non-working group
of 0-14 and the aged (66 and above) on one hand and labour force (i.e.15-
22. It may also show the ratio of the population to the proportion of the
population that is actually working. The former is referred to as the age
dependency ratio whilst the latter is the economic dependency ratio.
23. The dependency ratios of the district are indicated in the table below:

Table 2: Dependency Ratios
Type of Dependency Ratio
Age Dependency 1:1.9
Economic Dependency 1:2.4
24. This indicates that each person in the working age feeds approximately two
mouths. On the other hand, economic dependency ration is 1:2.4. This is
more reliable than the age dependency ratio since it take into consideration
people who are actually working, whereas the age dependency uses the
number of the people in the working age group irrespective of whether they
are working or not.
25. A high dependency ratio exerts pressure on the working population and
reduces savings. This results in a reduction in savings and investments.