Jijiga (woreda)

Jijiga (Somali: Jigjiga) is one of the 67 woredas in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Jijiga Zone, Jijiga is bordered on the south by Babille, on the southwest by Gursum, on the west by the Oromia Region, on the north by the Shinile Zone, on the northeast by Awbere and on the southeast by the Degehabur Zone. Towns and cities in Jijiga include Jijiga tuli gulled and Chinhahsan.

The average elevation in this woreda is 1803 meters above sea level.[1] The only perennial rivers in this woreda are the Fafen and the Jerer. As of 2008, Jijiga has 80 kilometers of asphalt road and 60 kilometers of all-weather gravel road; about 34.1% of the total population has access to drinking water.[2] The Karamara hills to the west of the city of Jijiga were thoroughly mined during the Ogaden War, and there are still dangerous areas which have been marked off limits.[3]

Prior to the 2004 October referendum, which established the disputed boundary between the Oromia and Somali Regions, a large section in the north of this woreda became the Chinhahsen woreda, which was transferred to the Oromia Region.[4]

Demographics

Based on figures published by the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 348,421, of whom 171,072 were men and 177,349 were women; 109,634 or 31.47% of its population are urban dwellers, which is greater than the Zone average of 22.5%. Information is not available on the area of Jijiga, so its population density cannot be calculated.[5] This woreda is primarily inhabited by the Bartire, Geeri Koombe and Ogaden subclan of the Darood.

The 1997 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 269,096, of whom 138,483 were men and 130,613 were women; 73,548 or 27.33% of its population were urban dwellers. The largest ethnic group reported in Jijiga was the Somali 138,483 (99.9%).[6]

Agriculture

A sample enumeration performed by the CSA in 2001 interviewed 37,413 farmers in this woreda, who held an average of 1.05 hectares of land. Of the 39.37 square kilometers of private land surveyed, 81.21% was under cultivation, 10.6% pasture, 3.72% fallow, and 1.8% was devoted to other uses; the percentage in woodland is missing. For the land under cultivation in Jijiga, 66.08% is planted in cereals like teff, sorghum and maize, 1.61% in pulses, 1.61% in root crops, and 0.07% in vegetables. Permanent crops included 4108 hectares planted in khat, 1 in enset, and 14.55 in fruit trees. 78.33% of the farmers both raise crops and livestock, while 19.88% only grow crops and 1.79% only raise livestock. Land tenure in this woreda is distributed amongst 94.28% owned their land, 1.29% rented, and the remaining 4.43% held their land under other forms of tenure.[7]

Notes

  1. ^ Hailu Ejara Kene, Baseline Survey of 55 Weredas of PCDP Phase II, Part I (Addis Ababa: August 2008), Annex 1 (accessed 23 March 2009)
  2. ^ Hailu Ejara Kene, Baseline Survey, Annexes 16, 17
  3. ^ "Local History in Ethiopia" The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 31 May 2008)
  4. ^ "Pastoral and Agro Pastoral Livelihood baseline profile - Oromiya (7 Weredas)", Pastoral Community Development Project (2004), p. 45
  5. ^ CSA 2005 National Statistics, Tables B.3 and B.4. Rural population numbers are believed to be underreported for this Region.
  6. ^ 1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Somali Region, Vol. 1 Tables 2.1, 2.12 (accessed 10 January 2009). The results of the 1994 census in the Somali Region were not satisfactory, so the census was repeated in 1997.
  7. ^ "Central Statistical Authority of Ethiopia. Agricultural Sample Survey (AgSE2001). Report on Area and Production - Somali Region. Version 1.1 - December 2007" (accessed 26 January 2009)
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