Alamata (woreda)
Encyclopedia
Alamata is one of the 36 woreda
s in the Tigray Region
of Ethiopia
. Part of the Debubawi Zone
, Alamata is bordered on the south and west by the Amhara Region
, on the northwest by Ofla
, and on the northeast by Raya Azebo
. The administrative center is Alamata
; other towns in Alamata include Waja
.
One micro-finance institution operates in Alamata, the Dedebit Credit and Saving Institution SC (DSCI), with three sub-branches: one at the administrative center, another at Waja, and the third at Merewa kebele
. DSCI has about 10,000 customers here. There are 11 multipurpose cooperatives in this woreda, one for each kebele and the last located in Alamata; all but one have been organized and registered in accordance with the new cooperatives law, with about 3,541 members. In addition to these cooperatives, there are 4 saving and credit cooperatives, all of which are based in rural areas, and 2 construction cooperatives which are based in the urban areas.
This woreda was one of the about fifteen most important cotton production areas in Ethiopia in the 1950s, excluding Eritrea
. A joint Ministry of Agriculture
-ICA project to improve cotton production in the Alamata district happened in 1954-55. The zonal water, mining and energy department announced 15 August 2009 that 84 of the 100 wells planned in Alamata and Raya Azebo woredas have been completed at a cost of 40 million Birr
. These wells would assist in irrigating over 3,000 hectares of land and benefit over 13,000 farmers.
of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 85,403, an increase of 26.56% over the 1994 census, of whom 42,483 are men and 42,920 women; 4,563 or 5.34% are urban inhabitants. With an area of 1,952.14 square kilometers, Alamata has a population density of 43.75, which is less than the Zone average of 53.91 persons per square kilometer. A total of 20,532 households were counted in this woreda, resulting in an average of 4.16 persons to a household, and 20,107 housing units.
The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 93,659 of whom 45,521 were men and 48,138 were women; 32,229 or 34.41% of its population were urban dwellers. The three largest ethnic groups reported in Alamata were the Tigrayan
(62.19%), the Amhara
(33.91%), and the Oromo
(2.24%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.66% of the population. Tigrinya
was spoken as a first language by 61.36%, 36.48% Amharic
, and 1.36% spoke Oromo
; the remaining 0.8% spoke all other primary languages reported. 78.35% of the population practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, and 21.45% were Muslim
. Concerning education
, 14.76% of the population were considered literate, which is less than the Zone average of 15.71%; 20.65% of children aged 7-12 were in primary school; 3.09% of the children aged 13-14 were in junior secondary school; 3.38% of the inhabitants aged 15-18 were in senior secondary school. Concerning sanitary conditions
, about 91% of the urban houses and 43% of all houses had access to safe drinking water at the time of the census; about 31% of the urban and 12% of the total had toilet facilities.
, and 1.04% was devoted to other uses. For the land under cultivation in this woreda, 91.67% was planted in cereals like teff
and sorghum
-- although barley
is the dominant crop in hgiher elevations -- 5.54% was in pulses, 31 hectares in oilseeds, and 33 planted in vegetables. The area planted in fruit trees was 43 hectares, while none were planted in gesho. 61.26% of the farmers both raised crops and livestock, while 23.92% only grew crops and 14.82% only raised livestock. Land tenure in this woreda is distributed amongst 72.66% owning their land, and 27.25% renting; the number held in other forms of tenure is missing. Parthenium hysterophorus
(or Congress weed) is reported to be an increasing threat to cereal production in Alamata, as well as in the adjacent woreda of Kobo
in Amhara Region. Cash crops include field peas, faba beans, lentils, teff and peppers.
Woreda
Woreda is an administrative division of Ethiopia , equivalent to a district . Woredas are composed of a number of Kebele, or neighborhood associations, which are the smallest unit of local government in Ethiopia...
s in the Tigray Region
Tigray Region
Tigray Region is the northernmost of the nine ethnic regions of Ethiopia containing the homeland of the Tigray people. It was formerly known as Region 1...
of Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
. Part of the Debubawi Zone
Debubawi Zone
Debubawi is one of five Zones in the Ethiopian Region of Tigray. Debubawi is bordered on the south and west by the Amhara Region, on the northwest by Mehakelegnaw , the north by Misraqawi and on the east by the Afar Region...
, Alamata is bordered on the south and west by the Amhara Region
Amhara Region
Amhara is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia, containing the homeland of the Amhara people. Previously known as Region 3, its capital is Bahir Dar....
, on the northwest by Ofla
Ofla
Ofla is one of the 36 woredas in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Debubawi Zone, Ofla is bordered on the south by Alamata, on the west by the Amhara Region, on the north by Endamehoni, and on the east by Raya Azebo...
, and on the northeast by Raya Azebo
Raya Azebo
Raya Azebo is one of the 36 woredas in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. It is named in part after the and who with the Yejju Oromo are the northernmost groups of the Oromo people. These peoples had settled in the area by the 17th century...
. The administrative center is Alamata
Alamata
Alamata is a town in northern Ethiopia. Located in the Debubawi zone of the Tigray region , it has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation of 1520 meters above sea level...
; other towns in Alamata include Waja
Waja
Waja is a town in northern Ethiopia. Located in the Debubawi Zone of the Tigray Region, south of the city of Alamata, this town has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 1471 meters above sea level...
.
Overview
Distinguished by small, undulating mountains with low vegetation cover, Alamata has an altitude which ranges between 1178 to 3148 meters above sea level, which drain into the Alamata Valley. Eight of the peasant associations are located in the Valley, while two are located in the intermediate highlands which have elevations ranging between 1500 and 3148 meters.One micro-finance institution operates in Alamata, the Dedebit Credit and Saving Institution SC (DSCI), with three sub-branches: one at the administrative center, another at Waja, and the third at Merewa kebele
Kebele
A kebele is the smallest administrative unit of Ethiopia similar to ward, a neighbourhood or a localized and delimited group of people...
. DSCI has about 10,000 customers here. There are 11 multipurpose cooperatives in this woreda, one for each kebele and the last located in Alamata; all but one have been organized and registered in accordance with the new cooperatives law, with about 3,541 members. In addition to these cooperatives, there are 4 saving and credit cooperatives, all of which are based in rural areas, and 2 construction cooperatives which are based in the urban areas.
This woreda was one of the about fifteen most important cotton production areas in Ethiopia in the 1950s, excluding Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
. A joint Ministry of Agriculture
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Ethiopia)
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is the Ethiopian government ministry which oversees the agricultural and rural development policies of Ethiopia on a Federal level...
-ICA project to improve cotton production in the Alamata district happened in 1954-55. The zonal water, mining and energy department announced 15 August 2009 that 84 of the 100 wells planned in Alamata and Raya Azebo woredas have been completed at a cost of 40 million Birr
Ethiopian birr
The birr is the unit of currency in Ethiopia. Before 1976, dollar was the official English translation of birr. Today, it is officially birr in English as well....
. These wells would assist in irrigating over 3,000 hectares of land and benefit over 13,000 farmers.
Demographics
Based on the 2007 national census conducted by the Central Statistical AgencyCentral Statistical Agency (Ethiopia)
The Central Statistical Agency is an agency of the government of Ethiopia designated to provide all surveys and censuses for that country used to monitor economic and social growth, as well as to act as an official training center in that field. It is part of the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance and...
of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 85,403, an increase of 26.56% over the 1994 census, of whom 42,483 are men and 42,920 women; 4,563 or 5.34% are urban inhabitants. With an area of 1,952.14 square kilometers, Alamata has a population density of 43.75, which is less than the Zone average of 53.91 persons per square kilometer. A total of 20,532 households were counted in this woreda, resulting in an average of 4.16 persons to a household, and 20,107 housing units.
The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 93,659 of whom 45,521 were men and 48,138 were women; 32,229 or 34.41% of its population were urban dwellers. The three largest ethnic groups reported in Alamata were the Tigrayan
Tigray-Tigrinya people
Tigray-Tigrinya are an ethnic group who live in the southern, central and northern parts of Eritrea and the northern highlands of Ethiopia's Tigray province. They also live in Ethiopia's former provinces of Begemder and Wollo, which are today mostly part of Amhara Region, though a few regions...
(62.19%), the Amhara
Amhara people
Amhara are a highland people inhabiting the Northwestern highlands of Ethiopia. Numbering about 19.8 million people, they comprise 26% of the country's population, according to the 2007 national census...
(33.91%), and the Oromo
Oromo people
The Oromo are an ethnic group found in Ethiopia, northern Kenya, .and parts of Somalia. With 30 million members, they constitute the single largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and approximately 34.49% of the population according to the 2007 census...
(2.24%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.66% of the population. Tigrinya
Tigrinya language
Tigrinya , also spelled Tigrigna, Tigrnia, Tigrina, Tigriña, less commonly Tigrinian, Tigrinyan, is a Semitic language spoken by the Tigrinya people in central Eritrea , where it is one of the two main languages of Eritrea, and in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia , where it...
was spoken as a first language by 61.36%, 36.48% Amharic
Amharic language
Amharic is a Semitic language spoken in Ethiopia. It is the second most-spoken Semitic language in the world, after Arabic, and the official working language of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Thus, it has official status and is used nationwide. Amharic is also the official or working...
, and 1.36% spoke Oromo
Oromo language
Oromo, also known as Afaan Oromo, Oromiffa, Afan Boran, Afan Orma, and sometimes in other languages by variant spellings of these names , is an Afro-Asiatic language, and the most widely spoken of the Cushitic family. Forms of Oromo are spoken as a first language by more than 25 million Oromo and...
; the remaining 0.8% spoke all other primary languages reported. 78.35% of the population practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, and 21.45% were Muslim
Islam in Ethiopia
According to the latest 2007 national census, Islam is the second most widely practised religion in Ethiopia after Christianity, with over 25 million of Ethiopians adhering to Islam according to the 2007 national census, having arrived in Ethiopia in 615...
. Concerning education
Education in Ethiopia
Education in Ethiopia has been dominated by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church for many centuries until secular education was adopted in the early 1900s. Prior to 1974, Ethiopia had an estimated illiteracy rate well above 90% and compared poorly with the rest of Africa in the provision of schools and...
, 14.76% of the population were considered literate, which is less than the Zone average of 15.71%; 20.65% of children aged 7-12 were in primary school; 3.09% of the children aged 13-14 were in junior secondary school; 3.38% of the inhabitants aged 15-18 were in senior secondary school. Concerning sanitary conditions
Water supply and sanitation in Ethiopia
Access to water supply and sanitation in Ethiopia is amongst the lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa and the entire world. While access has increased substantially with funding from external aid, much still remains to be done to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of halving the share of people...
, about 91% of the urban houses and 43% of all houses had access to safe drinking water at the time of the census; about 31% of the urban and 12% of the total had toilet facilities.
Agriculture
A sample enumeration performed by the CSA in 2001 interviewed 18,422 farmers in this woreda, who held an average of 0.84 hectares of land. Of the 15,533 hectares of private land surveyed, 98.16% was in cultivation, 0.03% pasture, 0.5% fallow, 0.27% woodlandForestry in Ethiopia
In the late nineteenth century, about 30% of Ethiopia was covered with forest. The clearing of land for agricultural use and the cutting of trees for fuel gradually changed the scene, and today forest areas have dwindled to less than 4% of Ethiopia's total land. The northern parts of the highlands...
, and 1.04% was devoted to other uses. For the land under cultivation in this woreda, 91.67% was planted in cereals like teff
Teff
Eragrostis tef, known as teff, taf , or khak shir , is an annual grass, a species of lovegrass native to the northern Ethiopian Highlands of Northeast Africa....
and sorghum
Sorghum
Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, one of which is raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture. The plants are cultivated in warmer climates worldwide. Species are native to tropical and subtropical regions of all continents...
-- although barley
Barley
Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
is the dominant crop in hgiher elevations -- 5.54% was in pulses, 31 hectares in oilseeds, and 33 planted in vegetables. The area planted in fruit trees was 43 hectares, while none were planted in gesho. 61.26% of the farmers both raised crops and livestock, while 23.92% only grew crops and 14.82% only raised livestock. Land tenure in this woreda is distributed amongst 72.66% owning their land, and 27.25% renting; the number held in other forms of tenure is missing. Parthenium hysterophorus
Parthenium hysterophorus
Parthenium hysterophorus is a species of flowering plant in the aster family, Asteraceae, that is native to the American tropics. Common names include Santa Maria Feverfew and Whitetop Weed. It is a common invasive species in India, Australia, and parts of Africa. P. hysterophorus invades all...
(or Congress weed) is reported to be an increasing threat to cereal production in Alamata, as well as in the adjacent woreda of Kobo
Kobo (woreda)
Kobo is one of the 105 woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Located in the northeast corner of the Semien Wollo Zone, Kobo is bordered on the south by the Logiya River which separates it from Habru and Guba Lafto, on the west by Gidan, and on the north and east by the Afar Region...
in Amhara Region. Cash crops include field peas, faba beans, lentils, teff and peppers.