Tano River, The River That Covers 21 Districts in Three Regions

This is the Tano river that passes through the Tanoboase Sacred Natural Site in the Ahafo Region of Ghana. It flows for 400 kilometres from a town called Traa a suburb of Techiman the capital town of Bono East Region of the Republic of Ghana to Ehy Lagoon, Tendo Lagoon and finally Aby Lagoon in Ivory Coast where it enters the Atlantic Ocean.

The river and its allied flora, aquatic and fauna diversities have been preserved because of the tradition that the place is the sacred grounds of the TAAKORA deity who is the overload of the Techiman people in the Ahafo Region of Ghana.

The Tano Basin is located in the southwestern part of Ghana and lies between Latitudes 50 N and 70 40’ N, and Longitudes 20 00’ W and 30 15’ W. The southern section is generally low in altitude, ranging between 0 and 150m above mean sea level. The general topography of the entire basin, however, ranges between 0 and 700m above mean sea level. The climate of the Tano Basin falls partly under the wet semi-equatorial and partly under the south-western equatorial climatic zones of Ghana. It is thus characterised by double rainfall maxima.

The Tano River Ship

A ship was named after the Tano River by the first President of Ghana, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah due to its usefulness to the country. General cargo ships built 1980-1989 (Over 3000gt). Black Star Line of Ghana’s Hyundai-built Tano River seen in Tilbury dock when virtually new.

Land Use Patterns

The Tano basin traverses three administrative regions: the Brong Ahafo, Ashanti, and Western Regions, comprising 21 administrative districts.  Arable lands occupy the highest percentage of the total landmass. There is commercial farming of cocoa, plantain, and other commercial and food crops.  Only about 10% of the landmass is used for human settlement. The forest cover represents the second-highest land use pattern in the basin and follows closely after agricultural lands, occupying about 50% of the total landmass of the basin. The remaining 40% of the landmass is covered by forests which are largely protected areas.

Water Resources

The Tano basin has its source within the forest in Pooyem, 4 Km from Techiman, and flows roughly north-south into the sea. The basin enters the sea outside Ghana, in Cote d’Ivoire.  The main tributaries of the Tano River system are the Abu, Amama, Bo, Disue, Soro, Atronie, Sabom, Gaw, Kwasa, Sumre, and Totua.  The Tano River System has a total catchment area of about 15,000 Km2 shared between Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire.

About 93% of the drainage area is within Ghana whilst the remaining 7% is in the Cote D’Ivoire.  The Tano River Basin constitutes a major source of domestic water supply from surface and groundwater.  Other uses include industrial, mining and irrigation.