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1.1.4: Vegetation
The District falls within the interior wooded savanna or tree savannah. However, due to the transitional nature, the area does not exhibit typical savannah conditions. The savannah used to be heavily wooded, though most of the trees are not as tall and gigantic as those in the moist deciduous forest but due to the human activities, the current prevailing natural condition is not the best. There is therefore the need to embark on a Massive tree replanting under the youth in Agro forestry currently introduced by the government.
The existence of “fringe forest” along the banks of rivers, streams and other areas where the impact of human activities are minimal is evidence of the fact that the transitional zone was once forested. Trees are widely scattered in the district. Common trees species found outside the few dotted “fringe forest” include dawadawa, acacia, sheanut trees, and mahogany which have adapted to this
environment. Grass grows in tussocks and can reach a height of 10 feet or more. However, there is an increasing activities of illegal logging of timber which is rapidly threatening the survival of rosewood.
1.1.5: Relief and Drainage
The topography of the district is generally plain with rolling and undulating land surface of an elevation between 60 – 300 meters above sea level. The district is unfortunately not associated with any significant highlands or hills except in the Benim (Buom) and Bronikrrom areas where a few matured hills and caves can be found.
The Pru River, which is a right tributary to the Volta Lake flows across the Northern part of the district. The Volta Lake and the Pru River almost drains around the District. One does not leave the District without crossing the river and its tributaries. The sluggish flow of the river permits the depositing of alluvial soils on the river beds and along their banks. The fertile nature of alluvial soils is a great potential for increased food production in the district.

Figure 1.2: Pru West District Map

1.2.0 Population
1.2.1: Population Size and Growth Rates
The District has an estimated population of 69,383 (GSS, 2021) with a relatively high growth rate of 3.0% which is higher than the regional and national growth rates of 2.7% and 2.1% respectively. Out of this population figure, males accounted for 35,354(51%) and females 34,029 (49%). The entire population of the district constituted about 5.77% of the regional estimated population of about 1,203,400(GSS, 2021).

The relatively high population growth rate of the district can be attributed to a number of factors including the large influx of settler farmers and fishermen from the three (3) Northern Regions, Volta, Accra, the opening up of the area by the Kumasi-Ejura-Atebubu High way and the natural increase resulting from high birth rate and low infant mortality rate.
This trend of population growth has a negative effect on environment since arable lands are being reduced and degraded for settlements, which when not given necessary attention is likely to result in desertification and environmental degradation in the District. The Forestry Department and other stakeholders therefore need to be supported to effectively monitor and sensitize the people to protect our natural resources from the ravages of population pressure.
1.2.2: Age and Sex Composition
According to the 2021 Population and Housing Census, the district has a relatively large male population compared to that of female. This structure is not different from that of the then Bono East Region. It however differs from that of the national sex structure which shows a female dominance. The large male population trend in the district is partly due to the continuous influx of settler farmers and fishermen who come into the district to tap the districts agricultural and economic potentials without their female counterparts.
The District has a large youthful population. The two cohorts that contain most of the people are the 0 – 14 group which constitute 42.9% and the 15 – 64 group which also forms 51.3% 65+ forms only 4.3%(GSS, 2010). The age structure depicts that the district has a large labour force (51.3%) while the regional and national active labour force are 52.4% and 55.2% respectively (GSS, 2010). This large active labour force could be positioned to harness and maximize the vast agricultural potentials and motivated groups to grow more trees to improve the vegetation of the district.
1.2.3: Household Composition
The composition and structure of the households reflects the general social structure of the society. According to extracts from the 2010 PHC, the average household size is 5.6 compared to the regional average of 4.6.
1.2.4: Dependency Ratio
Statistics from the 2010 PHC shows the district has a relatively high dependency ratio. The total age dependency ratio (dependent population to population in the working age) for the District is 92.04, the age dependency ratio for males is higher (96.27) than that of females (87.84). This
means that approximately 100 persons in the productive ages have 92 persons to care for in the dependent population. The district has child dependency ratio of 85.5 while that of the aged ones is 6.5. The child dependency ratio is high because there is a high proportion of the population 14 years or less, who are still dependent on the productive age group. The dependency ratio for the urban area is 77.37 whiles that of the rural areas is101.82.
1.2.5: Population Density
In 2010, the population density stood at 40.1 per km sq. With a static land size of 2,195kmsq and ever dynamic population, this means there is great pressure on the district’s fragile environment and other resources, which if care or pragmatic measures are not taken May gradually result in environmental degradation.
1.2.6: Rural/Urban Split
The population of the district is basically rural, with about 15.6% of the people residing in rural areas. The remaining of the population can be found in major towns of the district like Prang, Zabrama, Abease and Komfourkrom.
1.2.7: Spatial Distribution of Population
The district contains a total of 88 localities; most of the populated localities are located along the main roads from Prang to Kintampo through Abease. Prang is the only urban locality according to the 2010 PHC with a population of 10,248. This may be partly due to the concentration of most of the social amenities in the area at the expense of the less populated ones. Therefore, there is the need to evenly distribute socio-economic facilities to other smaller communities to help them grow.
The Abease Area Council holds about two thirds of the total land area in the district and contains most of the rural population.
Figure 1.3: District Population Distribution

1.3.0 Social Services
1.3.1 Education
The Pru West Education Directorate is sub-divided into six (6) circuits with administrative areas such as Prang South, Prang Central, Abease, Zabrama, Konfourkrom and Cherembo for efficient management.
Education services are rendered by both public and private institutions in the district. The 2020/2021 school year recorded 142 educational institutions; 118 public and 24 private. The various categories of educational establishments by ownership are presented in Table 1.19. From Table 1.19, there is significant private sector involvement in education delivery in all the categories except technical/vocational education. This is a positive development since it enables the directorate to expand access to education.

Institution	Pubic	Private	Total
Pre-School	42	8	50
Primary	42	8	50
JHS	32	7	39
SHS	2	1	3
Tech/Vocational	–	–	–
Tertiary	–	–	–
Total	118	24	142

Basic Education
 Access to education
Trend analysis of growth in the categories of public education from 2017/2018 to 2020/2021 shows varying levels of expansion of public educational institutions more especially at the basic school level (kindergarten, primary, and JHS) while there was a significant growth of senior high schools enrollment owing to the introduction of the Free Senior High School policy in 2017.
The high number of infrastructure at basic schools suggests there is a deliberate attention by stakeholders to reduce the challenge of geographical access to education in the district. It is anticipated that the stakeholders in education in the ensuing years would address the disparity between the number of primary and junior high school in the district to increase physical access to the latter. Table 1.20: shows trends of growth in the categories of public educational institutions in the district from 2017 to 2020.

Enrollment in Public School
Assessment of the general level of participation in a given level of education is also an important
indicator of the capacity of the education system to enroll students of a particular age group. From
the analysis below in table 1.22, there is very low level of participation at the JHS level which could mean that a lot of children on completion of primary school do not progress to the JHS level. One of the causes of this situation could be low physical access to education as shown by the significant gap in the number of primary schools compared to JHS. The other factors need to be investigated to ensure that the human resources of the district are comprehensively trained for the development of the district. A district with large population with low knowledge and skills could greatly slow down its pace of socio-economic development.