Seweyna
Seweynais one of theworedasin theOromia RegionofEthiopia.Located in the eastern part of theBale Zone,Seweyna is bordered on the south byRaytu,on the southwest byGinir,on the northwest byGaserana Gololcha,on the north byLegehida,and on the east by theSomali Region.[1]Towns in Seweyna includeHada.
Overview
[edit]The geography of this woreda is characterized by a dry plain in the western part and lowland in the east marked by low escarpments, flood plains andlava flows.Elevations extend from 400 to 1850 meters above sea level. Major rivers include the Mekenisa, Dare, Manduba and Kurkura. A survey of the land in this woreda shows that 24.4% is arable or cultivable, 46.3% pasture, 24.1%forestor heavy vegetation, and the remaining 5.2% is considered degraded, mountainous or otherwise unusable.Corn,sorghum,wheatandteffare important local crops.[2]Raising livestock is another important source of food and income, which include in order of importanceshoats,camels and cattle; during the months of May and June, inhabitants of the westernkebeleswho rely more on raising crops, collect and consume a wild fruit calledkulkal(known locally asShonka). Seweyna is considered a chronically food insecure woreda, and food aid is received irrespective of their income levels.[3]
Industry in the woreda includes 2grain millscreated with funding from the Regional government, as well as one wholesaler and 18 retailers. There were 19 Farmers Associations with 7750 members and no Farmers Service Cooperatives. Seweyna has no kilometers of road. About 10% of the total population has access todrinking water.[2]
Demographics
[edit]The 2007 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 65,846, of whom 32,996 were men and 32,850 were women; 3,775 or 5.73% of its population were urban dwellers. The majority of the inhabitants said they wereMuslim,with 97.63% of the population reporting they observed this belief, while 2.15% of the population practisedEthiopian Orthodox Christianity.[4]
Based on figures published by theCentral Statistical Agencyin 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 49,381, of whom 24,750 were males and 24,631 were females; 301 or 0.61% of its population are urban dwellers, which is less than the Zone average of 13.5%. With an estimated area of 8,108.44 square kilometers, Seweyna has an estimated population density of 6.1 people per square kilometer, which is less than the Zone average of 27.[5]
The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 35,769, of whom 17,934 were men and 17,835 women; 562 or 1.57% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. The two largest ethnic groups reported in Seweyna were theOromo(89.44%), and theSomali(7.56%); all other ethnic groups made up 3% of the population.Oromiffawas spoken as a first language by 91.58%, and 8.4% spokeSomali;the remaining 0.02% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants wereMuslim,with 99.91% of the population having reported they practiced that belief.[6]
Notes
[edit]- ^The Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agencymap for Oromia(copyright 2006) shows a woreda of the Oromia Region named Dawe Serara south of Seweyna, inside the Somali Region.
- ^abSocio-economic profile of the Bale ZoneGovernment of Oromia Region (last accessed 1 August 2006)
- ^"Pastoral and Agro Pastoral Livelihood baseline profile - Oromiya (7 Weredas)"Archived2011-07-20 at theWayback Machine,Pastoral Community Development Project (2004), pp. 66, 88
- ^2007 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Oromia Region,Vol. 1,Tables 2.1, 2.5, 3.4 (accessed 13 January 2012)
- ^CSA 2005 National Statistics,Tables B.3 and B.4
- ^1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Oromia Region,Vol. 1, part 1,Tables 2.1, 2.7, 2.12, 2.15, 2.17 (accessed 6 April 2009).
7°20′N41°20′E/ 7.333°N 41.333°E
