Welcome to the Official Website of the Ministry of Food & Agriculture, Ghana. West Africa.

CHARACTERISTICS

The Western Region covers an area of approximately 23,921 square kilometers, which is about 10 percent of Ghana’s total land area.
The region has 17 districts and MOFA has a district directorate in every one of them. The regional capital is Sekondi-Takoradi which is also home to the Regional Directorate of Agriculture.

Vegetation: The region has about 75 percent of its vegetation within the high forest zone of Ghana, and lies in the equatorial climate zone that is characterized by moderate temperatures.

Rainfall: It is also the wettest part of Ghana with an average rainfall of 1,600mm per annum.

Population: The population of the region is 1,924,577 representing about 10 percent of the total population of the country.

Est. population growth rate: 3.2% (against 2.5% national average) and the proportion of urban to total population is 36.3 percent

Region’s Major Occupation: The major occupations in the region are Agriculture including fishing, animal husbandry and hunting (58.1%), production and Transport work (14.5%), sales work (10.25) and professional and technical work (5.4%)

Economic characteristics: The region is endowed with considerable natural resources, which give it a significant economic importance within the context of national development.  It is the largest producer of cocoa, rubber and coconut, one of the major producers of oil palm and recently the discovery of oil in commercial quantities.  The rich tropical forest makes it one of the largest producers of raw and sawn timber as well as processed wood products.  A wide variety of minerals, including gold, bauxite, iron, diamonds and manganese are either being exploited or are potentially exploitable.

Forest Reserves:

• Ankasa Conservation Area

Ankasa Conservation Area is twin Wildlife Protected Area comprising Nini-Suhien National Park and the Ankasa Resource Reserve. It is about 500km2 situated in the Western Region of Ghana.

• The Bamboo Cathedral

The spectacular Bamboo Cathedral is located at Nkwanta about 8km from the Ankasa gate of the    Park. Though not a church building and has no human Bishop, a priest nor a creed, the site showcases nature’s perfect architectural design

• The Amansuri Conservation Area

The Conservation is a project been undertaken by the Amansuri Conservation & Integrated Development Project with the aim of managing the pristine Amansuri wetland and its fresh water lagoon.

• Bia National Park

Bia national park is bordered to the south with a 563 square kilometer Resource Reserve and is an International Biosphere Reserve Park.

LAND USE

• Arable land area: 17,641 km2 (73.75% of land area)
• Land under cultivation: 6,720 km2 (38.1% of arable land area)
• Major agricultural activities:
• Crop production – accounts for 74% of regional agric. output
• Livestock production (Ellembelle, Axim, Tarkwa, Essiama, Juaboso)
• Agro-processing(Agona Nkwanta, Axim, Bibiani)
• Agricultural marketing (Wiawso, Essam, Agona Nkwanta, Daboase )

Staple crops: maize, cassava, plantain, yam, cocoyam, Rice
Cash crops: Rubber, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, coconut palm
Potentially important crops: rice and citrus 

ESTIMATED AVERAGE CROP PRODUCTION (MT)
PRODUCTION ESTIMATES (MT)

Poultry:

1. Mostly concentrated in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis and its surrounding districts.

Grasscutter:

1. Current regional stock size – 2,600
2. Over 155 farmers trained with GTZ assistance

 Fish Production
The sea serves as a source of employment for those around the coastal belt, that is, from Shama through Aboaesi to Sekondi through New Takoradi to Axim and beyond. About 45% of the fish on the local markets is from the seas of western region.

Special Product

There are several processing groups in the Region.  Some of the processing activities are mainly cassava processing, fish processing, rice milling, oil palm processing, etc.  some of the processing groups are stated below.