The district falls within the Guinea Savannah vegetation belt. The vegetation consists of grasses with scattered fire resistant trees such as the Shea and Baobab trees. The heterogeneous collections of these trees meet domestic requirements for firewood and charcoal, construction of houses, cattle kraals and fencing of gardens.

Mango and cashew trees are also found in the district in significant numbers. Human activities particularly annual routine bush burning, indiscriminate tree felling for fuel wood, charcoal and other purposes and poor animal husbandry practices have continuously decreased the vegetation cover and increasing soil erosion and depletion of soil fertility.

Inappropriate farming practices such as shifting cultivation, road construction, sand and gravel winning increase land degradation. Farming and construction along, and in watercourses has also resulted in the silting of water bodies and destruction of vegetation protecting the water bodies in the District.

However, there is a growing awareness of the need to maintain and sustain the environment. A manifestation of this is the planting of tress which is being piloted by assembly members. Developing Economic Tree Plantations e.g. Mangoes and the SADA afforestation project have the potential of reviving the vegetation.

Despite this growing awareness on environmental conservation, a lot needs to be done in view of the settlement’s threat to desertification as a result of both human and natural factors.

The shorter shrubs and grasses in the vegetation provide fodder for livestock. This has resulted in high influx of Fulani into the district. Their activities have to be appropriately controlled and managed if the environment is to be sustained and food security assured.

The Shea tree is one great economic assert of the District and head portage has been the most common means of transporting the fruits from the bush to the house. The picking, processing and marketing of the Shea nuts engage thousands of households in the District seasonally. It has therefore contributed in increasing household incomes and reducing poverty among the people in the District. This industry can be developed further to serve as a source of livelihood in the district.

Overall, the threat to the vegetation of the district calls for effective forest resources management to preserve and protect all forest resources in the District.

Climatically, the District is tropical continental as experienced in the northern regions of Ghana. Throughout the year, temperatures are high with a minimum of 230C at night and a maximum of 420C during the day. This favours plant growth. The mean monthly temperature ranges between 210C and 320C. The highest monthly maximum temperature rises up to 400C before the rainy season usually in May with lowest minimum temperature falling to about 120C in December when the Harmattan winds from the Sahara dry up the vegetation.

As a result of the single maximum rainfall season prevailing in the district, crop production is mostly done during the rainy season (May to September/October). The dry season is a potential for the preservation industry that could use the sunshine as a natural preservative. By implication, however, since farming is the major occupation of the people, it means that their major sources of livelihood and income are limited during the dry season apparently resulting in the migration of the youth to the south in search of greener pastures. There is thus, the need to have adequate irrigation facilities to promote and enhance agricultural activities in the dry season.

In addition, it is imperative to identify and provide alternative sources of livelihood to the people to complement their occupations and improve their income generation capacities.