Population Size and Growth Rate
The District has a population of 93,600 with a relatively high growth rate of 3.0% as above the national growth rate of 2.7%. Out of this population figure, males account for 45,864 and females 47,736. The entire population of the district constitutes about 0.4% of the National average of about 21,607,077. The relatively high growth rate in the district is likely to be the influx of migrant farmers from the northern parts of the country.
Spatial Distribution of Population
The District has about 122 communities. However, some of them have a population of less than 100 people and can thus be described as hamlets and villages. There is only one community which has its population above 5,000 and thus can be classified as urban (when urban is defined as settlement with population above 5,000), i.e. Jema, the District capital. The population of the District is fairly distributed. As a result, there is no heavy concentration in a particular area.
Population Density
The district has a population density of 53 persons per square kilometre as compared to the Regional figure of 44 persons per square kilometre.
Household Composition
The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English defines household as “all the people living together in a house”. The socio-economic survey of 2006 revealed that households in the district are large. About 51% of households have members between 3 and 5; a household with between 6 and 8 members constitute 33% and those with 9 members and above is 14%.
Household with members of 1 and 2, constitute just 2%. This phenomenon reveals that most couples in the district do not adopt family planning methods in their sex lives. There could therefore be the need for stepping up the family planning education in the district. Most household heads in the district are males constituting 72% and females 28%. Interestingly, about 80% of the household heads are in the active population.
This means that 20% of household heads are dependent on the rest of the members. This situation could imply that most households are catered for in terms of their basic needs (as most household heads are employable). This is a positive contribution to building a strong and prosperous society, (as healthy households build a healthy society). The bigger household size is likely to be as a result of the settler farmers who prefer staying together as one family unit for a while before separating from their kinsmen. In some cases, they do not separate at all.
Literacy Level
Literacy can be defined as the ability to read and write. Literacy level in the Kintampo South District is low among household heads. This was revealed by the socio economic survey conducted in 2006. It indicates that, only about 55.4% of the household heads are literate (that is, with some level of education and can read and write), whilst 44.6% are illiterates.
Ethnicity and Religion
With regards to ethnicity, the district is ethnically diverse. It comprises of the Bonos, Mos, Dagombas, Ashantis, and other tribes. The Bonos and Mos in general form the majority ethnic groups in the district.
Religiously, Christians dominate constituting the majority of the population. The Muslim community forms a significant portion of the population. This may be due to in-migration of settler farmers from the North who are mostly Muslims. Traditional religion still has a place in the District and practised by a relatively small proportion of the population.
Rural-Urban Split
The District is basically a rural one with 99% of the population living in the rural areas whilst the remaining 1% of the population lives in settlement with population above 5000. About 30% of the population are settler farmers who migrated from the northern parts of the country. Some of the major settlements are located along the major Trunk road, which links Kintampo to Techiman.
Population by Settlement (Spatial Distribution)
The District contains over 122 settlements, with most of the major settlements located along the main roads of the District. Jema, the District Capital, was the only urban settlement in 2000 and with a population of 5,377 (2000 Population Census). The rest of the settlements were rural. To date most of the communities have still not attained the urban status with their populations of less than 5,000. Table 1.1 throws more light on the situation.
This movement of large number of people to the urban area could be ascribed to the attraction of social amenities in the Capital. This shows the need of the District Assembly to give serious consideration to providing social infrastructure in the rural areas of the district, otherwise in the short, time labour will be lacking in the rural areas of the district and that would impact negatively on the supply of food and cash crop.
