3. Methodology and study setting

#### 3.1 Study setting

This study focused on two municipal areas (Berekum and Dormaa) located in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana (see Figure 1). These municipalities were selected based on their rapid expansion and urbanization [46]. The total land size of the Berekum Municipality is 1635 km<sup>2</sup> . This area covers about 0.7% of the entire land area of Ghana (233,588 km2 ). The Berekum Municipality lies between latitudes 6° 27 N and 7°00 N and longitude 2°52 W. According to the 2010 Population Census of Ghana, the population of the municipality stood at 129,628. The annual average population growth rate is 2.2%. The 2015 population of the municipality was 144,528. This growth rate compares favorably with both the regional and national rates of 2.3 and 2.5% respectively. Dormaa Municipality, on the other hand, lies between latitude 7° and 7°30'N and longitude 3° and 3°30'N. It covers a land area of

Figure 1. Map of study area.

912 km<sup>2</sup> . The 2010 housing and population census of Ghana put the total population of Dormaa municipality at 159,789 with an annual growth rate of 2.4%.
