Sasiga

Sasiga is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Misraq (East) Welega Zone, Sasiga is bordered on the south by Diga Leka, on the west by the Benishangul-Gumuz Region, on the northwest by Limmu, on the north by an exclave of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region, and on the east by Guto Wayu. The administrative center of this woreda is Galo; other towns in Sasiga include Arb Gebeya, Ehud Gebeya, Gute and Tsige.

Contents

Overview

Part of this woreda are characterized by undulating hills. Rivers include the Karsa, Gumbi, Hare, Didiga, Kobo and Bege Rivers. A survey of the land in this woreda shows that 11.9% is arable or cultivable, 2.8% pasture, 1.6% forest, and the remaining 83.7% is considered swampy, marshy or otherwise unusable. Forested land is organized into the Danbi, Laga Ayya, Baloo, Bareda and Gumbi natural forests, and the Tsige State Forest. Local landmarks include Kolobo Cave, and the Bereda and Cumbi Falls.[1]. Coffee is an important crop in this woreda, with over 5,000 hectares planted in this cash crop.[2]

Industry in the woreda includes 3 grain mills. There were 7 Farmers Associations with 5272 members and 5 Farmers Service Cooperatives with 4727 members. Sasiga has 54 kilometers of dry weather road and no all-weather road, for an average of road density of 57.6 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers. About 11% of the total population has access to drinking water.[1]

History

Sasiga was one of six woredas in Misraq Welega selected for resettlement in 2003; the others were Guto Wayu, Diga Leka, Jimma Arjo, Sibu Sire and Gida Kiremu. Initially 40,641 people were resettled in these districts from the Hararghe and Semien Shewa Zones, but due to crop failures by 20 August the number had fallen to 37,879 people.[3]

Between 16 and 31 May 16 2008, 400 Oromo men, women and children were reportedly slaughtered by Gumuz peoples from the Benishangul-Gumuz Region in the valleys of the Angar and Didessa Rivers. Attempts by Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM) party to confirm these reports were frustrated by local officials, which led the OFDM to allege that there had been a government cover-up.[4]

Demographics

Based on figures published by the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 62,680, of whom 31,768 are men and 30,912 women; 4330 or 6.91% of its population are urban dwellers, which is about the same as the Zone average of 13.9%. With an estimated area of 938.13 square kilometers, Sasiga has an estimated population density of 66.8 people per square kilometer, which is less than the Zone average of 81.4.[5]

The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 44,892, of whom 22,246 were men and 22,646 women; 2,423 or 5.4% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. The two largest ethnic groups reported in Sasiga were the Oromo (96.15%), and the Amhara (3.34%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.51% of the population. Oromiffa was spoken as a first language by 96.78%, and 2.94% spoke Amharic; the remaining 0.28% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants were Protestant, with 60.14% of the population reporting they observed this belief, while 36.15% of the population said they were Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, and 2.56% were Moslem.[6]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Socio-economic profile of the East Wellega Zone Government of Oromia Region (last accessed 1 August 2006).
  2. ^ "Coffee Production" Oromia Coffee Cooperative Union website
  3. ^ Dechassa Lemessa, "Surplus producing eastern highland parts of Eastern Wellega Zone badly hit by current crisis", UN-OCHA 11 September 2003 (accessed 3 April 2009)
  4. ^ "OFDM Press Release: The Massacre of May, 2008", Jimma Times 21 June 2008 (accessed 9 March 2009)
  5. ^ CSA 2005 National Statistics, Tables B.3 and B.4
  6. ^ 1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Oromia Region, Vol. 1, part 1, Tables 2.1, 2.13, 2.16, 2.20 (accessed 6 April 2009)