Akim Oda is a town in the Eastern Region of south

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

and is the capital of the

Birim Central Municipal District Birim Central Municipal District is one of the thirty-three districts in Eastern Region, Ghana. Originally created as an ordinary district assembly in 1988 when it was known as the first Birim South District, which it was created from the former ...

and the traditional capital of

Akyem Kotoku Akyem Kotoku describes a traditional geo-political entity in Eastern Ghana. Akyen Kotoku is one of the three independent states along with Akyem Bosome and Akyem Abuakwa that forms the Akyem Mansa. This nation state with a non contiguous land mas ...

. In 2013, Akim Oda had a

settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building * Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction *Settlement (fin ...

population of 60,604 people.

Geography and climate

Akim Oda lies in hilly country of south Ghana with

rain forest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest ...

vegetation in the

Birim River The Birim River is one of the main tributaries of the Pra River in Ghana and the country's most important diamond-producing area, flowing through most of the width of the Eastern region. The river rises in the east of the Atewa Range, flows nor ...

basin. The climate of Akim Oda is semi-

equatorial Equatorial may refer to something related to: *Earth's equator **the tropics, the Earth's equatorial region **tropical climate *the Celestial equator ** equatorial orbit **equatorial coordinate system ** equatorial mount, of telescopes * equatorial ...

and wet with significant precipitation during the rainy season from April to June and again from September to November. A dry period is experienced between December to February. During this period temperatures are also significantly colder. Many outdoor and street carnivals are held in the town during this season.

Economy

Agriculture

Cocoa is an important part of the Akim Oda

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

, including plantations and casual plantings along roadsides. The crop is dried and stored in warehouses for shipment. There are several small palm oil farms to the north of the

Birim river The Birim River is one of the main tributaries of the Pra River in Ghana and the country's most important diamond-producing area, flowing through most of the width of the Eastern region. The river rises in the east of the Atewa Range, flows nor ...

, covering about 6,000 hectares. Byproducts from the palm-oil mills are used in soap-making.

Bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

is another

crop A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydropon ...

grown in Akim Oda, used for furniture and construction.

Mining

The Akim Oda bank of the Birim river is rich in

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

and

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

s, extracted locally through

artisanal mining An artisanal miner or small-scale miner (ASM) is a subsistence A subsistence economy is an economy directed to basic subsistence (the provision of food, clothing, shelter) rather than to the market. Henceforth, "subsistence" is understood as su ...

processes.

Forestry

The Akim Oda forests contain valuable trees, and there is some

lumbering Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

. The total forest area of Ghana dropped from 8.2 million

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...

s around 1900 to 1.6 million hectares by the year 2000 and continues to decline rapidly due to demand both for exports and construction from the growing Ghanaian economy. Forest plantations being introduced near Akim Oda (and throughout the entire country under the National Forest Plantation Development Programme) may help to reverse the decline.

Tourism

Attractions include dug-out boat tours to view the Akim Oda

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

operations, traditional ceremonies usually including drumming performances with the Akan drum, the biggest tree in

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...

at 12 meters circumference (diameter = 3.8m) and 66.5 meters tall and a bustling outdoor market. Ghanaian food is also an important attraction.

Healthcare

The Akim Oda Government Hospital is the only public health care provider in the town of Akim Oda, serving the Kotoku traditional area and as a referral point for the adjourning communities in the Akyem states near Akim Oda. Other major private clinics such as the Jubilee hospital and Oda Community Hospital also provide health care to the inhabitants of the Akyem Kotoku, Bosome and part of the Abuakwa traditional area.

Education

The Kotoku traditional area contains several public and private educational institutions. There are over fifteen public primary and junior high school, three major public senior high schools, and 20 competitive private schools.

Notable people

Notable people born in Akim Oda include: *

Kuami Eugene Eugene Kwame Marfo (born 1 February 1997), who goes by the stage name Kuami Eugene is a Ghanaian High-life and Afrobeat singer-songwriter. He is signed to Lynx Entertainment, and is known for several songs, including "Angela", "Wish Me Well", ...

, a Ghanaian musician *

Benjamin Azamati-Kwaku Benjamin Azamati-Kwaku (born 14 January 1998) is a Ghanaian sprinter, who currently competes for ASICS Global. He made history by breaking a 22-year national record held by Leo Myles Mills on 26 March 2021 in Texas by clocking 9.97 seconds to ...

, a Ghanaian sprinter * Ursula Owusu, a Ghanaian lawyer and politician * Benny Morgan, a Ghanaian musician * Emmanuel Oti Essigba, a Ghanaian footballer * Justice Joe Appiah, a politician

Media coverage

Akim Oda currently has four major radio stations which serve the Akyem states and the country as a whole that help shape social, economic and political issues.

References

{{Authority control Populated places in the Eastern Region (Ghana)