Climate

The climate of the District is Tropical, greatly influenced by the South – West  Monosoons from the south Atlantic and the dry  Harmattan winds from the Sahara.  There are two rainy seasons, the major one from mid – April to early July and the minor from September to November.  The average annual rainfall varies from 900mm to 1100mm with more than 50 per cent of it falling in the major season.  Rainfall generally is inadequate even during the major season, which adversely affects both crop and cattle production in the District.

Temperature

Temperature and relative humidity vary little throughout the year.  The mean temperature is 27º C and the maximum and minimum vary from 22º C to 33º C. respectively.  March is the hottest month while July and August are the coolest months.  Average relative humidity is about 80%, making the weather quite conducive for human activities, such as habitation, farming and recreation.

Topography
 
The topography of the District is gentle, ranging from near sea level to about 18 meters (60 feet) above sea level, with slopes less than 5 per cent.  The areas near the Volta River are at a higher elevation, falling gradually backwards and rising again into the Adaklu Hills.
There are few iselbergs, which rise abruptly from the plains, namely the Avakpe , Asiekpe  and  Kluma Hills, which are composed of granite rocks.  The Todze Hill located near New Bakpa is composed mainly of gravel.
The gentle topography brings about low development costs and favours large-scale mechanized farming. The granite and gravel hills mentioned above also serve as good sources of construction material. However, there are serious overflows during the rainy season, which calls for channeling, diversion or other   means of correction to make the area productive.

Drainage

The District is drained by the Alabo, Kolo, Aklakpa, Gblor, and Nyifla streams and their numerous tributaries into the Volta River, which runs North – South through the District.  The Todze and its western tributaries drain the eastern part of the District into the Avu lagoon.  In the rainy season, these streams overflow their banks, causing damage to roads and farms.  Channeling, diversion, basin clearing or other means of correction could re-drain large areas of agricultural lands and boost agricultural production.
There are large numbers of inland creeks including Kebenu near Dove, Aklamadaw, Amidoe, and Akplordodi, which could be developed into fish breeding grounds.  Several ponds and dugouts / dams are found in the District.  Major ones are located at Atiteti, Adudornu mafi Kumase, Adidokpavu, and Teleafenu.  These serve as main sources of water supply for the inhabitants and livestock.  Most of these ponds and dugouts dry up in the dry season.

Soil

There are dominantly medium to moderately coarse textured alluvial soils along the Volta River.  Below these are the heavier clay soils that characterize most parts of the District, leading to poor surface and sub-surface drainage, making road development difficult.  These soils are also very difficult to cultivate because they have low water holding capacity.  They are also shallow (low effective rooting depth).  They are however, suitable for rice and
sugarcane cultivation under irrigation.  They form the raw material for pottery, brick and tile industries.

Areas between Adidome, Anfoe, Kpedzeglo, Mafi Kumase, Sasekpe and Bakpa Avedo consist of moderately coarse or sandy loams, which drain easily and are suitable for agricultural purposes.  These soils however, have low capacity to retain soil nutrients for plant use, and so need regular use of fertilizers. The undulating topography and the loose nature of these soils have led to serious gully erosion in most settlements, affecting road and drainage construction.

MINERAL DEPOSITS

The main mineral deposits in the District are:

Clay

The soils around Kpoviadzi, Adidome, New Bakpa and Volo are rich in clay deposits.  These are suitable for the manufacture of bricks and tiles, ceramic products and local pottery products. The Adidome Brick and Tile factory has started exploiting the clay resources around Adidome estimated at about 19 million metric tons and covering an area of 6 million m².

Oyster shells

Large deposits of calms shells used for paint, animal feed among others are found in several areas of the District, notably at Mepe, Volo, Dorfor – Gborkpo, Afaode, Alabo and around Adidome.  Known deposits total about 1.5 million metric tons.

Feldspar

Deposits of feldspar (sum of alkali and alumina units) suitable for glaze manufacture are found at Dorfor London.

Nepheline Gneiss

Deposits of this mineral suitable for glass, ceramic and porcelain wares are also found at Dorfor, Ogoli and Drode.  Tests are however required to establish a process of obtaining good quality material for industrial use.

Sand

Good quality sand for the construction industry is fund all over the District.  Biggest deposits are however located at Mepe, Battor, Togorme and Fodzoku.

Granite
Fine unexploited aggregates occur in heaps of hills near New Bakpa.  These can support the construction industry.  People have started small scale quarrying in the vicinity of Avakpedome, Mafi Kumase and Kpedzeglo.

Vegetation

The District lies within the tropical savannah grassland zone.  The vegetation is dense along the Volta River and along the stream basins.  This is basically due to the presence of more fertile soils and better subsoil moisture.  This vegetation consists of mangoes, oil palms, baobab, silk cotton, acacia etc.  Farther from the river the vegetation in sparse, predominantly grassland, interspersed with neem trees and guinea grass, digitaria decumbent and fan palms, which dot the Mafi Kumase and Agohome – Avetakpo areas.  The latter are used extensively as timber for housing purposes in the District.

Neem and other trees are harvested throughout the district for fuel and charcoal burning.  These activities, though providing sources of revenue, have completely destroyed the vegetation cover with consequent ecological problems.  The major affected areas in the District are Alabo, Mafi Kumase, Volo, Dorfor Aklakpa and Dedukpoe.

The shrub and grassland areas present suitable grounds for cattle grazing which make the District one of the largest cattle producing areas in the country.  Uncontrolled grazing and the frequent bush fires are however, gradually reducing such areas into near desert lands.

Fauna

The Kolo and Akalakpa Reserves have been completely destroyed through harvesting of trees for lime and charcoal production at Battor, Volo and Dorfor and also poaching activities.  Thus wildlife, which included elephants, antelopes, monkeys, hogs etc.  have left for Adaklu reserves.  Partridges are however common.

Surface Accessibility

The District has very few motorable roads.  The only tarred roads in the District are the Mepe – Sege road, Adidome Township road, and the Tema – Akosombo roads passing through Juapong at the periphery of the District.

The Adidome – Sogakope, Adidome – Ho roads are the only roads linking the District to other districts.  Though not tarred and in extremely bad conditions, these roads are the all year round motorable roads in the District.  All other areas are accessible by tracks and earth roads only in the dry season.

The Sogakope – Adidome – Ho road is the only one linking the District to the regional capital and other places, making the District “land locked”. The Adidome – Volo – Juapong feeder road, which has been constructed, has form a major outlet for the District and is expected to greatly improve surface accessibility in the District but the unfortunate situation is that road has gone bad again due to the heavy trucks plying the road. See Appendix III for the roads in the District.

Conditionals of Natural and Built Environment

A myriad of factors both natural and manmade have influenced the current environment of the District. Human activities have taken a great toll on the natural environment, which used to be balanced and with a great dose of esthetically attractive environment. Human activities such as destruction of forest through cutting of trees for fuel wood, bush fires and charcoal and massive construction activities have affected the ecological balance of the District very much. The District’s microclimate has been affected very greatly resulting reducing rainfall figures and extension of the dry season

The lack of comprehensive physical development plan for most of the towns of the District has promoted the sporadic development of buildings without considering the environment and some natural signs like water ways and flood prone areas. This has been the major cause of flooding that is normally experienced in some parts of the District.

Apart form the major towns in the district, which can boast of complex buildings, most of the towns have simple buildings, chamber and hall and single rooms. There are some compound houses as well, which normally house a large number of households. Such houses are mostly owned by large families.