Sefwi Debiso is a town in the

Bia West District Bia West District is one of the nine districts in Western North Region, Ghana. Originally it was formerly part of the then-larger Bia District in August 2004, which was created from the former Sefwi-Bibiani District Council, until the northeast ...

in the

Western North Region The Western North Region is one of the six new regions of Ghana created in 2019. The region is bounded by the Ivory Coast (Comoé District) on the west, the Central region in the southeast, and the Ashanti, Ahafo, Bono East and Bono regions ...

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 Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

. It is a central town located between three major towns:

Essam Essam ( Arabic: عِصام ''‘iṣām'') is an Arabic male given name and surname. It means "defended; protected; well-preserved; well-protected; well-kept; preserved; reserved; safeguarded". Surname Notable people with the surname Essam includ ...

Sefwi Adabokrom Adabokrom is a town in Western North Region of Ghana. It is the capital of Bia East. Adabokrom was named the District capital after Bia East District split from Bia District in 2012. Adabokrom is about 250 km west of Kumasi. The town is ...

and Adwuofua. Because of rapid expansion, Debiso has conurbated with the nearby Community

. Presently, Sefwi Debiso & Essam serve as co-capitals of the

. There are direct distant routes from Debiso to major towns such as

Kumasi Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is t ...

Berekum Berekum is a city and is the capital of Berekum Municipal in the Bono Region of Ghana. Berekum has a population of 62,364. The native language of the Berekum people is the Bono Twi. Towns Pepaase, Akroforo, Kotaa, Domeabra, Ampenkro, M ...

, Mim Ahafo, Sefwi-Wiawso and republic of

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

. Debiso is known for producing

cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...

and

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including Beam (structure), beams and plank (wood), planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as fini ...

. Debiso is also noted for the Bia National Park.

History

The settlement of Sefwi-Debiso was founded on hunting expedition. By 1890s, large number of people travelled to this area to hunt for bush meat ( wild animals) as a commercial activity. The preserved meat were smoked and sent to places like

Dunkwa-On-Offin Dunkwa-On-Offin or simply Dunkwa, is a town and the capital of the Upper Denkyira East Municipal District, a district in the Central Region of south Ghana. Dunkwa-On-Offin has a 2013 settlement population of 33,379 people. Geography Topograph ...

, Mim Ahafo and

for market. In the early 1900s, a new wave of migrants came to settle in Debiso not because of hunting and game(bush meat) activities but people who were in search of the then lucrative rubber tree(funtumia elastic) and the vine form of it ( (landolphia warensis). The forest region of Debiso was populated with the wild rubber trees. Influx of people from Fante, Akyem, Assin, Denkyira and as far as Sierra Leone came to occupy available lands to pursue the rubber plantation business where by the sap of the wild rubber tree were corrected and sent to the coastal areas to trade with the Europeans. From the 1920s, another wave of migrants began to settle in Debiso for the cultivation of

. Among the migrants who came to engage in cocoa farming activities were the Asantes, Bonos, Kusasis and Ewes. Presently, Debiso host to more migrant farmers than the indigenous farmers.

Economy

Agriculture: The fundamental

occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

of residents of Debiso is

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peop ...

, which is cultivation of

cash crop A cash crop or profit crop is an agricultural crop which is grown to sell for profit. It is typically purchased by parties separate from a farm. The term is used to differentiate marketed crops from staple crop (or "subsistence crop") in subsiste ...

s and

food crops 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 hydroponi ...

. The predominant

s grown in this area is

.In terms of employment and income generation, with about 80% of the working population engaged in this sector which constitutes the main source of household income. There are three (3) prominent types of farming activities in this area are livestock farming, food and cash crop farming. The most predominant amongst these cash crop productions is cocoa which constitute a greater percentage of the farmers in Debiso and surrounding communities.

Tourism

Debiso has quite a number of potential tourist attractions including the Bia National Park, Monumental Stones, and the Yam Festival

Alluolue Festival Alluolue (Yam, Eluo) Festival is a Ghanaian annual festival celebrated by the chiefs and people of Sefwi Wiawso and Sefwi Bekwai in the Western North region, formally Western region of Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the R ...

Festival

The chiefs and people of Sefwi Debiso traditional area cerebrate the

. This festival is celebrated to mark an event that took place in the past. The festival is claimed to bring together people for the planning of development and sew bonds of unity and friendship. During the festival, visitors are welcomed to share food and drinks. The people put on traditional clothes and there is durbar of chiefs. There is also dancing and drumming.

Education

Notable educational institutions in Debiso are:Debiso Senior High & Technical school and

Bia Lamplighter College of Education Bia Lamplighter College of Education is a co-educational college of education in Sefwi Debsio ( Bia West District, Western Region, Ghana). The college is located in the Central / Western zone. It is one of 46 public colleges of education in Ghana ...

.{{cite web , title=Bia Senior High Technical , url=https://www.schoolsingh.com/senior-high-schools/bia-senior-high-technical/about , website=www.schoolsingh.com , access-date=21 August 2021

References

Populated places in the Western North Region