Afder Zone

Afder (Somali: Afdheer) is one of the nine Zones of the Somali Region of Ethiopia. Afder is bordered on the southwest by the Ganale Dorya River which separates it from Liben, on the west by the Oromia Region, on the north and northeast by the Shebelle River which separates it from Gode, and on the east and southeast by the Provisional Administrative Line with Somalia. The administrative center of Afder is Hargele; other towns in Afder include Cherti and Weldiya.

In April 2006, in partnership with Al-Nejah Relief, CHF International began a program to restore shallow wells and improve sanitation habits in the Afder and Gode Zones of the Somali Region.^[1]

Demographics

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency (CSA) in 2005, Afder has an estimated total population of 444,633, of which 244,756 are men and 199,877 are women; 38,451 or 8.6% of its population are urban dwellers. Information is not available for the area of Afder, so its population density cannot be calculated.^[2]

The 1997 national census reported a total population for this Zone of 358,998 in 53,075 households, of whom 200,948 were men and 158,050 were women; 25,747 or 7.17% of its population were urban dwellers. (This total also includes an estimate for the inhabitants of 9 rural kebeles, which were not counted; they were estimated to have 6,526 inhabitants, of whom 3,222 were men and 3,304 women.) The two largest ethnic groups reported in Afder were the Somali (96.21%) and the Oromo (1.29%); all other ethnic groups made up 2.5% of the population. Somali was spoken as a first language by 93.23% of the inhabitants, and Oromiffa by 2.16%; the remaining 4.61% spoke all other primary languages reported. Concerning education in the Zone, 3.43% of the population were considered literate; 0.57% of children aged 7–12 were in primary school, while a negligible number of the children aged 13–14 were in junior secondary school, and none of children aged 15–18 were in senior secondary school. About 24.2% of the urban houses and 6.7% of all houses had access to safe drinking water at the time of the census; about 23% of the urban and 4.3% of the total had toilet facilities.^[3]

According to a May 24, 2004 World Bank memorandum, none of the inhabitants of Afder have access to electricity, this zone has a road density of 8.3 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers, the average rural household has 0.6 hectare of land (compared to the national average of 1.01 hectare of land and an average of 2.25 for pastoral Regions)^[4] and the equivalent of 3.1 heads of livestock. 28.2% of the population is in non-farm related jobs, compared to the national average of 25% and an average of 28% for pastoral Regions. 12% of all eligible children are enrolled in primary school, and none in secondary schools. 100% of the zone is exposed to malaria, and none to Tsetse fly. The memorandum gave this zone a drought risk rating of 660.^[5]

Agriculture

On 5–23 November 2003, the CSA conducted the first ever national agricultural census, of which the livestock census was an important component.^[6] For the Somali Region, the CSA generated estimated figures for the livestock population (cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and equids) and their distribution by commissioning an aerial survey. For the Afder Zone, their results included:

Notes