CHAPTER ONE
Date - 14/Sep/2016
CHAPTER ONE
1.1. Geophysical Characteristics
1.1.1. Location and size
TheDistrict lies in the north western corner of the Upper West Region of Ghana between Longitude 2°25 W and 2°45W and Latitude 10°20 N and 11°00 S. It is bounded to the East and South by the Lambussie and Jirapa Districts respectively and to the North and West by the Republic of Burkina Faso. The total area of the District is put at 567.6 square km. This constitutes about 3.1% of the Region’s total land area. The District is constituted by 84 communities with 86% of the inhabitants living in rural areas. The population density is about 89 per square kilometer. It is the most densely populated District in the region. Below is a map showing location of the District in Ghana. Its closeness to Burkina Faso offers it a strategic location for international interactions and exchanges. It however poses a challenge related to the influx of Fulani herdsmen into the district from the Sahel.
1. Relief and Drainage
The topography of the district could be described as gently undulating. Generally, the district is located about 180 meters above sea level with a few isolated hills. The relative plain topography is suitable for road construction, distribution of utility lines and general construction works.
The District is poorly endowed with water bodies. This is attributed to the low underground water table. The only natural water bodies are a few interconnected streams flow into the black volta which cuts through the district. The black volta river is considered by the district as a potential for aquaculture.
There are a number of dams and dugouts which provide water for irrigation, domestic chores, construction, and animals on graze. The interconnected water bodies in the district facilitate storm water drainage, thus making the district less floodable, except in few low lying areas. Though the water bodies in the District have a potential for supporting agricultural activities in the dry season, they equally serve as constraints in road construction and therefore access to communities during the rainy season.
A significant characteristic of most of these rivers and streams is the perennial nature of their flows. Many of these water bodies are reduced to intermittent pools in the dry season while others completely dry up. Many of these streams could be developed to support dry season farming.
1.1.3. Vegetation and Climate
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.
1.1.4. Geology and Soils
With a gently undulating topography, the district is bound with fresh granite. The main soil types in the District are sandstone, gravel, mudstone, alluviam, granite and shale that have weathered into different soil grades. Due to seasonal erosion, soil types emanating from this phenomenon are sand, clay and laterite ochroslols. The availability of these soil types have contributed to housing development which have resorted to the use of local building materials such as sand, gravel, and clay.
These soil types are better suited for the cultivation of cereals and root tuber crops including millet, maize, sorghum and yam. They respond well to the application of organic manure and commercial fertilizers to give high yield. With adequate rains and good farming practices, these soils have the potentials of improving agriculture production.
1.1.5. Environment
The Nandom District has a total of 1515.1 hectares of forest reserves, however, the natural environment of the District has witnessed all kinds of degradation over the years to the extent that the vegetative cover has dwindled and soils have become poor. Widespread bushfires are annual rituals in almost all the communities. Indiscriminate felling of trees for fuel wood (the major source of Energy), inappropriate farming practices, soil erosion, over grazing of livestock, sand, gravel and stone winning are other acts of environmental degradation in the District. Recent efforts by government to institutionalized tree planting in all dry areas of the country and the unique efforts by the District Assembly to complement this policy have come as a relief to help the District fight the increasing pace of desertification.