Awash Fentale (woreda)

Awash Fentaleis aworedainAfar Region,Ethiopia.Part of theAdministrative Zone 3,Awash Fentale is bordered on the south by theOromia Region,on the west by theAmhara Region,on the north byDulecha,and on the east byAmibara.Towns in Awash Fentale includeAwash Sebat KiloandSabure.

Rivers in this woreda include theAwashand its tributary theGermama.A large portion of this woreda is occupied by theAwash National Park.

The dire conditions of the 2002 drought led local pastoralists, which included members of theAfar,Karayuand theIttu Oromo,to armed conflicts over grazing and water access.

Demographics

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by theCentral Statistical Agencyof Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 29,780, of whom 15,475 are men and 14,305 women; with an area of 1,046.41 square kilometers, Awash Fentale has a population density of 28.46. While 16,849 or 56.58% are urban inhabitants, a further 1,695 or 5.69% are pastoralists. A total of 7,421 households were counted in this woreda, which results in an average of 4.0 persons to a household, and 7,751 housing units. 68.26% of the population said they wereMuslim,25.75% wereOrthodox Christians,and 5.21% wereProtestants.

Agriculture

A sample enumeration performed by the CSA in 2001 interviewed 2303 farmers in this woreda, who held an average of 0.64 hectares of land. Of the 1.47 square kilometers of private land surveyed, 63.3% was under cultivation, 1.89% pasture, 24.83% fallow, and 9.96% was devoted to other uses; none was used as woodland. For the land under cultivation in this woreda, 33.22% was planted in cereals likemaize,10.71% in vegetables, and 20.53% in root crops; none of the land was planted in pulses. A further 0.03 hectares was planted in fruit trees. All of the farmers claimed that they only raised livestock. Land tenure in this woreda is distributed between 91.06% owned their land, 4.51% rented, and the remaining 4.43% held their land under other forms of tenure.