The GNHR data indicated that 184,125 households were enumerated in the Region and the Garu and Tempane Districts recorded 42.04 poverty rate while Bolgatanga Municipality recorded 14.9 per cent poverty rate.

The Kassena-Nankana Municipal recorded 16.02 per cent, Builsa North 16.16 per cent,  Bawku Municipal 17.24 per cent, Kassena-Nankana West, 24.79 per cent, Builsa South 28.70 per cent and Talensi 30.03 per cent.

The other districts, Bawku West, recorded 33.60 per cent, Pusiga 34.48 per cent, Bongo 36.05 per cent,  Binduri 36.30 per cent and  Nabdam 41.20 per cent.

About 28 per cent of the people in the region are extremely poor while 35 per cent are non-poor.

Dr Prosper Laari, the National Coordinator of the GNHR said this in a presentation at the GNHR maiden data dissemination workshop in Bolgatanga.

Dr Laari said the region recorded 1,706 communities with 353 urban dwellers representing 21 per cent and 1,353 representing 79 per cent rural dwellers. 

The elderly population in the region was about 6.7 per cent and those living with various forms of disabilities were 3.4 per cent.

Dr Laari said the registration exercise was conducted in two phases, phase one begun in June 2016 and enumerated 135,000 households, while the phase two was done in 2018 and enumerated 180,125 households in the region.

He said the region had about 386,596 unemployed people while only 156,284 were partially employed in agriculture, private sector and the government sector.

The unemployment rate in each district showed that the Nabdam district recorded 59.8 per cent, Kassena-Nankana 61.1 per cent, Bolgatanga, 62.2 per cent, Bawku West 63.3 per cent, Kassena-Nankana West 63.4 per cent, Bongo 63.6 per cent, Bawku Municipal 65.1per cent,  Binduri, 68.1 per cent, Builsa and North, 69.4 per cent and Talensi, 72.6 per cent.

The Pusiga district recorded74.8 per cent, Builsa South 83.9 per cent while Garu and Tempane recorded 84.1 per cent each.

Dr Laari reiterated the need for stakeholders to use the GNHR register to improve on policies that would provide adequate social protection interventions to improve the livelihood of the people.

Madam Tangoba Abayage, the Upper East Regional Minister, urged the Municipal and District Assemblies to see the GNHR data as a weapon to fight poverty and vulnerability, which are endemic in the region.  

She called on policy makers and non-state actors such as the Civil Society Organisation and non-governmental organisations to get involved in the implementation of pro-poor programmes in the region with the use of the GNHR data.

Participants at the workshop