Dolo Odo
Encyclopedia
Dolo Odo is one of the 47 woreda
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 Somali Region
Somali Region
Somali Region ; is the eastern-most of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia. It is often called Somalia, though it is not to be confused with the independent country of the same name. The capital of Somali State is Jijiga...

 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 Liben Zone
Liben Zone
Liben is one of the nine Zones of the Somali Region of Ethiopia. Liben is bordered on the south by Kenya, on the west by the Oromia Region, on the northeast by Afder, and on the southeast by Somalia. Towns in Liben include Softu and Dolo....

, Dolo Odo is located in the angle formed by the confluence of the Ganale Dorya
Ganale Dorya River
The Ganale Dorya River is a perennial river in southeastern Ethiopia. Rising in the mountains east of Aleta Wendo, the Dawa flows south and east to join with the Dawa at the border with Somalia to become the Jubba. Tributaries include the Welmel, Weyib , Dumale, Doya, Hawas and the Hambala...

 with the Dawa River
Dawa River
The Dawa River is a perennial river in southeastern Ethiopia. Rising in the mountains east of Aleta Wendo, the Dawa flows south and east to join with the Ganale Dorya at the border with Somalia to become the Jubba. The river forms part of the Ethiopia–Kenya border and part of the Ethiopia–Somalia...

, and bordered to the west by Moyale
Moyale, Somali (woreda)
Moyale is one of the 47 woredas in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. Located at the extreme southwest corner of the Liben Zone, Moyale is bounded on the south by Kenya, on the west by the Oromia Region, and on the north and east by the Dawa, which separates Moyale from Liben and Dolo Odo. The...

, to the northwest by Liben
Liben, Somali (woreda)
Liben is one of the 47 woredas in the Somali Region of Ethiopia...

, on the north and east by Afder Zone
Afder Zone
Afder 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...

, and on the south by Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

. Towns in Dolo Odo include Bekol May, Dolo
Dolo, Ethiopia
Dolo is a town in southeastern Ethiopia, within 30 kilometers of the Ethiopia-Somalia border. Located in the Liben Zone of the Somali Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of...

 and Softu
Softu
Softu is a town in southeastern Ethiopia. Located in the Liben Zone of the Somali Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of .- History :...

.

The altitude of this woreda ranges from 200 to 1000 meters above sea level. Other rivers in this woreda include the Mena
Mena River
The Mena is a river of eastern Ethiopia. It is a tributary of the Ganale Dorya....

. , Dolo Odo has 120 kilometers of all-weather gravel road and 540 kilometers of community roads; about 58.8% of the total population has access to drinking water.

History

Irrigation agriculture was introduced to the riverine inhabitants of this woreda by the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission
Relief and Rehabilitation Commission
The Relief and Rehabilitation Commission is an Ethiopian government agency that was set up in Addis Ababa in the aftermath of the 1973 drought. It played a central role in bringing the 1984 - 1985 famine in Ethiopia to the public's attention, and helped to distribute international aid to the areas...

 (RRC) in the late 1970s. While the RRC encouraged this trend with the introduction of three irrigation pumps at selected points, a major impetus were local people who had fled to refugee camps in Somalia during the Ethiopian-Somali war
Ogaden War
The Ogaden War was a conventional conflict between Somalia and Ethiopia in 1977 and 1978 over the Ogaden region of Ethiopia. In a notable illustration of the nature of Cold War alliances, the Soviet Union switched from supplying aid to Somalia to supporting Ethiopia, which had previously been...

, where they had the opportunity to acquire the basic skills and know-how of irrigation agriculture while participating in irrigation schemes in the Lower Juba River, and returning to Dolo Odo where they put their knowledge to use. These new skills have led to the arable lands on the dry riverbed and the flood plains, which used to be dry season grazing and farming areas for the Degodia and Garimarro, also becoming attractive to groups of newcomers, which has led to strife between the groups. Ahmed Ali Gedi has identified nine conflicts between Degodia sub-clans, who have traditionally had peaceful relations, which resulted in one or more casualties between 1997-2005. Furthermore, as the land between the flood plains and riverbanks, which was primarily basin woodlands and dry season pasturage, has been converted to commercial farming, this has caused deforestation and displacement of the original inhabitants.

Both the Dawa and Ganale Dorya rivers overflowed their banks and flooded Dolo Odo in June, 2005. According to reports, six people died, irrigation pumps were swept away, and hundreds of livestock were drowned.

Dolo Odo was one of the woredas heavily affected by the Ganale Dorya flooding in November 2008. At least 10,740 people reportedly were displaced, and roads from Dolo to Filtu
Filtu
Filtu is a town in southern Ethiopia. Located in the Liben Zone of the Somali Region, it has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 1,150 meters above sea level...

 and Negele Boran
Negele Boran
Negele Borana is a town in southern Ethiopia. Located in the Guji Zone of the Oromia Region on the road connecting Addis Ababa to Dolo Odo, it has a latitude and longitude of with an altitude of about 1,475 meters above sea level. It is the administrative center of Liben woreda...

 were blocked.

Demographics

Based on figures published by the Central Statistical Agency
Central 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...

 in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 179,562, of whom 84,910 were men and 94,652 are women; 58,622 or 32.65% of its population are urban dwellers, which is more than the Zone average of 11.3%. Information is not available for the area of Dolo Odo, so its population density cannot be calculated. A recent study categorized the woreda population as follows: 50% of the people are identified as agro-pastoralists, 30% as transhumant pastoralists, 15% as urban and 5% as sedentary farmers. This woreda is primarily inhabited by the Degodia and Garre
Garre
The Garre are a Somali pastoralist clan who live in Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia. They are sub-clan of the Digil clan. Almost all speak the Garre language, though it may be secondary to the Maay speaking sub-clan of Darrawe who speak Maay as their first language. Their urban centers include...

  of Hawiye clans of the Somali people
Somali people
Somalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family...

.

The 1997 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 138,412, of whom 73,678 were men and 64,734 were women; 39,301 or 28.39% of its population were urban dwellers. The largest ethnic group reported in Dolo Odo was the Somali
Somali people
Somalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family...

 133,987 (96.8%). There has been a 300% population increase in 1994 when compared with the recorded population of 44,520 in the 1984 census, and the forecasted figure for 2005 indicates that there would be a 415% increase by the year 2005. Population experts and local leaders attribute this population boom to a number of factors of which the primary one is the large returnee population from neighboring Somalia.

Agriculture

A sample enumeration performed by the CSA in 2001 interviewed 8,437 farmers in this woreda, who held an average of 0.56 hectares of land. Of the 4,708 hectares of private land surveyed, 27.82% was under cultivation, 7.86% was pasture, 56.78% fallow, 1.06% woodland, and 3.31% was devoted to other uses; the area in woodland is missing. For the land surveyed in this woreda, 24.04% is planted in cereals like maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

 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...

, 1.98% in pulses, 0.53% in root crops, and 0.85% vegetables. Permanent crops included 146.06 hectares planted in fruit trees. 41.2% of the farmers both raise crops and livestock, while 3.35% only grow crops and 55.45% only raise livestock. Land tenure in this woreda was distributed amongst 85.89% owning their land, 3.1% renting, and the remaining 11% holding their land under other forms of tenure.
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