Location and Size
The Yilo Krobo Municipality is one of the twenty-six (26) municipalities/districts in the Eastern Region. It lies approximately between latitude 60 .00’N and 00 .30’N and between longitude 00. 30’W and 10 .00’W. It covers an estimated area of 805 square kilometres, constituting 4.2 percent of the total land area of the Eastern Region. The municipality is bounded in the north and east respectively by Lower Manya Krobo Municipality and Upper Manya Krobo District, in the South by Akwapim North Municipality and Shai-Osudoku District and on the West by New Juaben and East Akim Municipalities and Fanteakwa District; (see figures 1.1 and 1.2, which show the Yilo Krobo Municipality in the national and regional contexts respectively).
There are however, conflicts over some resources among Lower Manya and Yilo Krobo Municipalities and Akwapim North District due to unclear demarcation of boundaries.
The municipality has about two hundred and thirty (230) settlements out of which only the municipal capital, Somanya and Nkurakan have populations of above 5,000. The municipality is divided into seven (7) Zonal Councils namely, Somanya, Oterkpolu, Boti, Nkurakan, Nsutapong, Klo-Agogo and Obawale (see Figure 1.3 showing the Zonal Councils).
Climate
The Yilo Krobo Municipality lies within the dry equatorial climatic zone which experiences substantial amount of precipitation. This is characterized by a bi-modal rainy season, which reaches its maximum during the two peak periods of May – June and September – October. The annual rainfall is between 750mm in the southeast and 1600mm on the slopes of the
ranges in the northwest. Temperature ranges between a minimum of 24.90 C and a maximum of 29.90 C. A relative humidity of 60 – 93 percent is a characteristic of the municipality.
Vegetation
The municipality lies within the semi-deciduous rain forest and the coastal savannah zone of the country. There is the dry semi-deciduous (fire zone) which stretches from the municipality to the lower part of the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality covering 855 square kilometres. Tree types that are most widespread in the municipality include palm, mango, nim, ceiba and acassia. The coastal savannah zone in the south-eastern part forms part of the Accra plains.
Topography and Drainage
The area is predominantly mountainous. The Akwapim Ranges stretch into the municipality from southwest to northeast across the municipality. With its accompanying deep valleys, it provides an undulating landscape. The low lands are in the south-eastern part of the municipality. The rocks forming the ranges are called the Togo series, which include quartzites, phyllites, sandstones, phyllonites and sandy-shades. The quartzites in the municipality are hard, massively bedded rocks but occasionally flaky varieties occur. They are fine to median grained sand but grayish when fresh. On the average, the height of the highlands in the municipality ranges between 300 and 500 metres above sea level. There is a scarp rising up to 600 metres, which forms the boundary with the New Juaben Municipality. On the south-eastern part of the municipality is the Krobo Mountains from where it is believed the Yilo people migrated to the present area (see figure 1.4).
There are two main watersheds forming three river basins in the municipality. One of the watersheds is located on the Akwapim Ranges where rivers flow in the eastward direction on the lowlands into the Volta River. On the west of the ranges, the rivers flow into the Ponpong River, which empties into the Volta Lake. The highlands on the western part of the municipality also create another watershed. Hence, the rivers flow through New Juaben to join the Densu River (see figure 1.4).
Soils and Suitability for Agriculture
Predominant soils in the municipality can be divided into three major groups. These are,
- Soils developed over sand stone (Yaya-Pimpimso-bejua Association)
- Soils developed over Buem (Dewasi-Wayo Association)
- Soils developed over Togo rocks Menfe-Fete-Salom complex and the Oyarifi-Krobo-Memfe-Nyire complex.
Soils developed over sandstone are predominant in the municipality as pertains in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality and Upper Manya Krobo District. This is made up of the Yaya-Pimpimso-Bejua Association. These soils are found north-west of Huhunya right to the border between the municipality and Fanteakwa District. These soil associations are developed from the Voltarian sandstone under forest and consist of very shallow, eroded, litholols on summits and upper slopes of scarps and hills. This is a characteristic of the Yaya series. The Pimpimso series consist of moderately shallow, reddish brown well-drained loose, concretionary overlying ironpan or sandstone rock on steep upper slopes. The Bejua series on the other hand consist of moderately deep poorly drained, grey loose loamy sands on narrow valley bottoms. These soils are saturated with water in the rainy seasons but dry out in the middle of the dry season. With suitable drainage, the soils are considered suitable for the cultivation of rice, sugarcane and vegetables.
The next soil groups are those that are developed over Buem (Dewasi – Wayo Associations). These soils stretch from Sikabeng down to Huhunya, southeast to Okrakwadwo. This association has summit soils of shallow, pale-coloured brushy soils and deeper red sandy loams of Nsomia series. These soils of the Wayo series are poorly drained and most crops do not do well on them.
The last category is soils developed over Togo rocks. These include the Manfe-Fete-Salom complex and the Oyarifa-Krobo-Manfe-Nyire complex. These are the predominant soil associations stretching between Somanya through Kwameninte to Aperedi in the Akwapim North Municipality.
The Fete series of the Manfe-Fete-Salom complex comprises excessively drained pale-brown brashy soils developed on steep slopes over quartzite and sandstone of the Togo range. These soils normally dry up quickly on exposed cultivated plots. They have low nutrient reserves. The Menfe series on the other hand comprise red concretionary clays occurring on gentle to moderate upper slopes on the Togo range summit. The topsoil consists of dark grayish brown humus sandy or clay loams often including a moderate amount of ironstones and quartz gravel. These soils are well drained and retain moisture satisfactorily throughout the year. Almost all the nutrient supply is contained in the topsoil organic matter.
The Oyarifa-Krobo-Manfe-Nyive complex is found southeast of Kwameninte. These soils are waterlogged and periodically flooded during the rainy season. The topsoil is readily cultivated by hand and by machines. Control of flooding would be required before large-scale development could be attempted
Population Size and Distribution (Urban/Rural)
According to the 2010 Population and Housing Census (PHC) report, Yilo Krobo has a total population of 87,847 which comprises 42,378 males (48.2%) and 45,469 females (54.8%); depicting more females than males. This represents 3.3 percent of the regional population. With a growth rate (crude) of about 1.25%, the municipality’s population stood at 91,183 as at the end of 2013.
About 30.92 percent of the population lives in urban centres whilst 69.8 percent lives in rural areas. This might be because the municipality is more rural than urban. For all groups of ages, most people are living in the rural areas as compared to the urban areas. This could be due to the fact that the main occupation in the municipality is farming. The municipality must therefore fashion out strategies to development the agricultural sector and growth of other settlements. Table 1.8 shows the population size by locality of residence, the sex ratio and the percentage the municipality covers in the region.
Sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a given population, usually expressed as the number of males per 100 females. The sex ratio for Yilo Krobo Municipality is 93.20 meaning there are about 93 males, for every 100 females.
Migration
The total number of migrants in Yilo Krobo municipality was 27,474 (2010 PHC). Out of this, about 69 percent which is equivalent to 19,045 persons were born in the same region but leaving elsewhere other than their place of birth in that same region (intra-regional migration). The Volta, Greater Accra and Ashanti regions are relatively large in-migrant areas in the municipality, ie, 2,429, 1,931 and 1,188 persons respectively. The Greater Accra and Volta regions are very close to the municipality and this might explain why people easily move from those regions to the municipality to trade. The least in-migrant areas are Upper East and Upper West regions ie 77 and 57 persons respectively. This might also be due to the fact that these regions are the farthest from the municipality so very few migrants move from those places to the municipality to trade. Those who migrate might do so because of marriage since Upper East had the highest percentage (29.9) of persons who have stayed in the municipality for twenty (20) years and above.
The duration of stay in an area by migrants can influence the municipality either positively or negatively. The lengthy stay of more qualified people in an area enhances productivity while that of un-qualified people has long term effects such as overcrowding, pollution, large numbers of street hawkers and increase in crime rate.
Population movement has direct implications for the development of the municipality. In the first place, the movement creates a continuous loss of labour force. Secondly, returnee migrants are likely to introduce crime, new diseases and the like into the municipality. Thirdly, returnee migrants are, generally more enlightened, innovative and have some working capital to invest.
The municipality must design strategies to control the outward flow of its people and also to create conducive environment for returnee migrants to apply the skills and capital acquired into more productive ventures.
Population Density
The municipality covers an area of 805 square kilometres, which represent 4.2% of the total area of Eastern Region. This translates into a population density of 109 persons per square kilometre. The population density for the municipality in 1970, 1984 and 2000 were 74, 103 and 108 respectively. The indication is that there has been a gradual increased pressure on the available land since 1970.
Population by Zonal Council
The municipality has seven (7) Zonal Councils. Table 1.11 shows the distribution of population by Zonal Councils. Somanya Zonal Council has the highest population in the municipality accounting for 41.2 % in the year 2010, followed by Nkurakan and Boti Zonal Councils. Nsutapong and Obawale are the least populated Zonal Councils in the municipality. Generally, the municipality’s population is concentrated in the south-eastern part.
Household Size
The total number of households in the Yilo Krobo Municipality is 20,613. Out of this, 13,145 households are headed by males and the remaining 7, 468 by females. As the number of household size increases, the number of persons constituting such households decreases. Few persons have household sizes of 8 and above. The average household size for the Yilo Krobo municipality is 4.2. This means that on the average each household in the municipality is made up of 4 persons. It is interesting to note that the average household size of male headed households is about 3 (3.2) while that of the female is 6.0 which is almost twice that of the males. This might be due to the fact that most of the time when females head a household; they bring their relatives and family friends to stay with them. This in turn increases the number of persons living in the household. This is presented in table 1.12.
Location and Distribution of Services
A critical study of spatial location and distribution of services and their inter-linkages provide an understanding of a district’s spatial economy. Furthermore, it provides an in-depth knowledge about the adequacy and variety of functions performed by a settlement.
The study has been carried out in the municipality with the aid of scalogram analysis. The scalogram is a matrix showing selected settlements and the respective functions they perform in a municipality. This tool also helps in the determination of hierarchy of settlements and the nature of spatial integration they exhibit in a municipality.
For the analysis, 25 settlements, representing communities with population not less than 500 people with diverse facilities were used. Twenty-two (22) services, cutting across such sectors as education, health, utilities, commerce and industries were identified and considered.
Based on the variety and level of the aforementioned services in the scalogram, settlements were ranked in a hierarchy. Somanya has the highest number of services in the municipality, totalling 23. A centrality index was calculated from the scalogram for all the 25 settlements, and Somanya has a centrality index of 1,872 and the next largest settlement had a centrality index of only 888. The analyses indicate that the distribution of facilities and services is highly skewed in favour of Somanya. It is therefore necessary that the municipality focuses on equitable spatial development.