The vulnerable and excluded persons in Agona District are:

1. Subsistence farmers with land holdings of between one-quarter of an acre and two acres. About 55% of these farmers are aged according to recent studies by the district directorate of Agriculture.
2. The Destitute: mainly Street children who are always spotted in the central business district of Swedru, and other bigger communities. However, there are no official statistics on the situation.
3. The unemployed and the under- employed: A large chunk of the district’s able-bodied persons are not in any gainful employment. The unemployed are mainly artisans and those in trades such as dressmaking, hairdressing whose businesses are seasonal and are found doing practically nothing at the lean season.
4. The women, children, the aged etc. who are vulnerable to risk and other social upheavals like land disputes, ethnic violence, chieftaincy conflicts and domestic violence.
5. Those displaced by the Nyakrom communal conflict between the settler Moslem community and the few indigenes that were affected.
6. Workers and casual workers of contractors who are either poorly or irregularly paid. This is linked to the irregular payment to contractors by government and the District Assembly.

Special Programmes undertaken by Governmental Authorities, NGOs and Religious Bodies over the last five years have helped in mitigating the harsh effects of poverty in Agona District. Notable among the programmes are:

• Assistance from Agona District Assembly to farmers, traders and small-scale entrepreneurs in the form of cash and bank loans.
• Provision of scholarship packages to needy but brilliant students. A total of... has been disbursed to students to finance their education at the various levels.
• Establishment of vocational and technical institutions by the Ministry of Education and some NGOs in the district: An NGO has established the Frankeve Fashion & Design School at Swedru and Himsett Vocational Institute at Kwanyako.
• Specifically, and in the past five years, the Agona District Assembly, in collaboration with other agencies has been in the forefront in sourcing and channeling development through the following programmes aimed at reducing poverty:
• Poverty Alleviation Fund (PAF): Since its inception over 000 million has beendisbursed to various groups and individuals.

• Youth in Agriculture Fund: 10 groups have benefited from this fund.
• European Union (EU) 5th Micro-projects programme is currently undertaking nine projects in education, health, sanitation and revenue generation.
• The Village Infrastructure Project (VIP) is building two open shed markets, 26 boreholes and 92 kilometers of roads in the district.
• The Local Government Development Project (Urban III Project) is also concentrating in Swedru, the district capital for the development of that town’s infrastructure -market, roads, street lights, storm drains, refuse disposal sites and public toilets.