Konso special woreda
Encyclopedia
Konso is one of the 77 woreda
s in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia
. Because Konso is not part of any Zone in the SNNPR, it is considered a Special woreda, an administrative subdivision which is similar to an autonomous area
. This woreda is named after the Konso people
. Located in the Great Rift Valley
, Konso is bordered on the south by the Oromia Region
, on the west by the Weito River
which separates it from the Debub Omo Zone
, on the north by the Dirashe special woreda
, and on the east by Burji special woreda
. The Sagan River
, which flows south then west to join the Weito, defines part of the woreda's boundary with Burji and the entire length of the boundary with the Oromia Region. The administrative center is Karati; other towns in Konso include Fasha and Sagan
.
that involves the building and maintaining of stone terraces, and fertilizing the fields with manure. A central feature of their fields is the endemic tree crop, Moringa stenopetala
. The main crop is sorghum
, along with some root crops and cotton.
According to a 2004 report, Konso had 178 kilometers of all-weather roads and 81 kilometers of dry-weather roads, for an average road density of 114 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers. The Central Statistical Agency
(CSA) reported that five tons of coffee
were produced in this woreda in the year ending in 2005, based on inspection records from the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea authority. This represents less than 0.1% of the SNNPR's output and less than 0.1% of Ethiopia's total output.
of Oromia" which has been ongoing since 1992. Another dispute was over Gato and Bayde
Fuchucha kebele
s with Derashe special woreda administrations, with a further claim for Ale, which after mediation between the two woredas was referred to the SNNPR parliament for action.
The 1996 UNDP-EUE report quotes an earlier report prepared in 1993, which had stated that "one peculiarity of the Konso area is its frequent earthquakes. A recent strong tremor sent panic around the villages. Some hillside villages (one nicknamed New York) have slid as a result. Another danger is fire, in the crowded, stockaded villages full of wooden structures." The 1996 report however concludes, "No earthquakes occurred after 1993."
Local government officials in Konso denied elected officials of the opposition Konso People's Democratic Union (KPDU) the offices to which they had been elected in 2001 for several months. Over the next few years, the KPDU was subjected to a campaign of harassment. After opening a branch office in Fasha on 29 December 2002, pro-government supporters severely beat several KPDU members and seriously damaged the newly opened office; the landlord who rented the office space to the KPDU was reportedly arrested. In July of the following year, ruling party supporters, backed by local militia, closed the KPDU branch office in Karati and imprisoned party leaders Tesfaye Korra and Adane Fulayta for one week. Activists of the ruling party then looted the offices and damaged the roof. Then on 12 October, government militias acting on the authority of local officials arrested the chairman of the KPDU, Shako Otto Kora, in Karati and detained him for six days. The local officials accused him of "disturbing development activities" for visiting one of his party's branch offices that had been closed.
The Sudan Times reported that on 14 May 2008 continuing conflict between the Konso and Borena Oromo left 36 people dead and forced more than 5,000 inhabitants to flee their homes. "Among the dead, 35 of them belong to Konso tribes" Areke Geyto, the administrator of the special woreda told local reporters. The refugees were sheltered in the Aba-Roba, Kashale, Nalaya Segen and Gesergo kebele
s.
of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 235,087, of whom 113,412 are men and 121,675 women. With an area of 2,273.79 square kilometers, Konso has a population density of 103.39; 9,415 or 4.00% are urban inhabitant. A total of 44,902 households were counted in this woreda, which results in an average of 5.24 persons to a household, and 43,535 housing units.
In the 1994 Census this woreda had a population of 157,585 in 29,629 households, of whom 77,147 were men and 80,438 women; 5,479 or 3.48% of its population were urban dwellers. The four largest ethnic groups reported in Konso were the Konso (87.01%), the Gawwada (9.2%), the Amhara
(1.25%), and the Oromo
(0.75%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.79% of the population. Konso
was spoken as a first language by 86.64% of the inhabitants, 9.11% spoke Gawwada
, 2.26% spoke Oromiffa
, and 1.4% spoke Amharic
; the remaining 0.59% spoke all other primary languages reported. 65.62% of the population said they practiced traditional religions, 24.47% were Protestants
, and 5.49% practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity. Concerning education
, 8.14% of the population were considered literate; 3.79% of children aged 7–12 were in primary school; 1.45% of the children aged 13–14 were in junior secondary school, and 0.94% of the inhabitants aged 15–18 were in senior secondary school. Concerning sanitary conditions
, about 89% of the urban houses and 11% of all houses had access to safe drinking water at the time of the census; 55% of the urban and 7% of the total had toilet facilities.
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 Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region (SNNPR) 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...
. Because Konso is not part of any Zone in the SNNPR, it is considered a Special woreda, an administrative subdivision which is similar to an autonomous area
Autonomous area
An autonomous area or autonomous entity is an area of a country that has a degree of autonomy, or freedom from an external authority. Typically it is either geographically distinct from the rest of the country or populated by a national minority. Countries that include autonomous areas are often...
. This woreda is named after the Konso people
Konso people
The Konso or Konzo people are an ethnic group in south-central Ethiopia. According to the 2007 national census, they numbered 250,430 of whom 10,470 or 4.18% are urban dwellers. Over 87% live in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region....
. Located in the Great Rift Valley
Great Rift Valley
The Great Rift Valley is a name given in the late 19th century by British explorer John Walter Gregory to the continuous geographic trench, approximately in length, that runs from northern Syria in Southwest Asia to central Mozambique in South East Africa...
, Konso is bordered on the south by the Oromia Region
Oromia Region
Oromia is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia...
, on the west by the Weito River
Weito River
The Weito River is a river in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region of Ethiopia...
which separates it from the Debub Omo Zone
Debub Omo Zone
Debub Omo is a Zone in the Ethiopian Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region . Debub Omo is bordered on the south by Kenya, on the southwest by the Ilemi Triangle, on the west by Bench Maji, on the northwest by Keficho Shekicho, on the north by Semien Omo, on the northeast by the...
, on the north by the Dirashe special woreda
Dirashe special woreda
Dirashe is one of the 77 woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region of Ethiopia. Because Dirashe is not part of any Zone in the SNNPR, it is considered a Special woreda, an administrative subdivision which is similar to an autonomous area...
, and on the east by Burji special woreda
Burji special woreda
Burji is one of the 79 woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region of Ethiopia. Because Burji is not part of any Zone in the SNNPR, it is considered a Special woreda, an administrative subdivision which is similar to an autonomous area. It is named for the Burji people, who...
. The Sagan River
Sagan River
The Sagan River is a seasonal river in southern Ethiopia. Rising in the mountains east of Lake Chamo to flow south then west to join the Weito River at , this river defines part of the boundary between the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region and the Oromia Region.Tributaries of the...
, which flows south then west to join the Weito, defines part of the woreda's boundary with Burji and the entire length of the boundary with the Oromia Region. The administrative center is Karati; other towns in Konso include Fasha and Sagan
Sagan, Ethiopia
Sagan is a town in southern Ethiopia. Located in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 1066 meters above sea level. It is named after the nearby Sagan River, a tributary of the Weito.An elementary school building was...
.
Overview
Rivers in this woreda include the Talpeena, a tributary of the Sagan. A 1996 UNDP-EUE report divided the area of this special woreda "by differences of altitude and economic exploitation," which are the "semi-arid lowland areas supporting the majority of the population (between 60-70 percent); and agricultural uplands in the middle altitude supporting the rest of the primarily cultivating population." The native Konso traditionally practice a distinct and sustainable form of agricultureAgriculture in Ethiopia
Agriculture in Ethiopia is the foundation of the country's economy, accounting for half of gross domestic product , 83.9% of exports, and 80% of total employment....
that involves the building and maintaining of stone terraces, and fertilizing the fields with manure. A central feature of their fields is the endemic tree crop, Moringa stenopetala
Moringa stenopetala
Moringa stenopetala is a species of tree in the Moringa family of flowering plants known mainly as an important nutritious vegetable tree food crop in the terraced fields of Konso, Ethiopia. In this way it's similar to its Indian relative, Moringa oleifera....
. The main crop is 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...
, along with some root crops and cotton.
According to a 2004 report, Konso had 178 kilometers of all-weather roads and 81 kilometers of dry-weather roads, for an average road density of 114 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers. 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...
(CSA) reported that five tons of coffee
Coffee production in Ethiopia
The coffee production in Ethiopia is critical to the Ethiopian economy with about 25% of the population depending directly or indirectly on coffee for its livelihood...
were produced in this woreda in the year ending in 2005, based on inspection records from the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea authority. This represents less than 0.1% of the SNNPR's output and less than 0.1% of Ethiopia's total output.
History
The woreda has had a number of boundary disputes with adjacent administrative units. According to Sarah Vaughan, the "most serious of these concerns Teltele district, claimed since 1992 by [the] Borana zoneBorena Zone
Borena is one of the 17 zones of the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Borena is named after a tribe of the Oromo people. Borena is bordered on the south by Kenya, on the west by the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, on the north by Guji and on the east by the Somali Region. The...
of Oromia" which has been ongoing since 1992. Another dispute was over Gato and Bayde
Fuchucha kebele
Kebele
A kebele is the smallest administrative unit of Ethiopia similar to ward, a neighbourhood or a localized and delimited group of people...
s with Derashe special woreda administrations, with a further claim for Ale, which after mediation between the two woredas was referred to the SNNPR parliament for action.
The 1996 UNDP-EUE report quotes an earlier report prepared in 1993, which had stated that "one peculiarity of the Konso area is its frequent earthquakes. A recent strong tremor sent panic around the villages. Some hillside villages (one nicknamed New York) have slid as a result. Another danger is fire, in the crowded, stockaded villages full of wooden structures." The 1996 report however concludes, "No earthquakes occurred after 1993."
Local government officials in Konso denied elected officials of the opposition Konso People's Democratic Union (KPDU) the offices to which they had been elected in 2001 for several months. Over the next few years, the KPDU was subjected to a campaign of harassment. After opening a branch office in Fasha on 29 December 2002, pro-government supporters severely beat several KPDU members and seriously damaged the newly opened office; the landlord who rented the office space to the KPDU was reportedly arrested. In July of the following year, ruling party supporters, backed by local militia, closed the KPDU branch office in Karati and imprisoned party leaders Tesfaye Korra and Adane Fulayta for one week. Activists of the ruling party then looted the offices and damaged the roof. Then on 12 October, government militias acting on the authority of local officials arrested the chairman of the KPDU, Shako Otto Kora, in Karati and detained him for six days. The local officials accused him of "disturbing development activities" for visiting one of his party's branch offices that had been closed.
The Sudan Times reported that on 14 May 2008 continuing conflict between the Konso and Borena Oromo left 36 people dead and forced more than 5,000 inhabitants to flee their homes. "Among the dead, 35 of them belong to Konso tribes" Areke Geyto, the administrator of the special woreda told local reporters. The refugees were sheltered in the Aba-Roba, Kashale, Nalaya Segen and Gesergo kebele
Kebele
A kebele is the smallest administrative unit of Ethiopia similar to ward, a neighbourhood or a localized and delimited group of people...
s.
Demographics
Based on the 2007 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 235,087, of whom 113,412 are men and 121,675 women. With an area of 2,273.79 square kilometers, Konso has a population density of 103.39; 9,415 or 4.00% are urban inhabitant. A total of 44,902 households were counted in this woreda, which results in an average of 5.24 persons to a household, and 43,535 housing units.
In the 1994 Census this woreda had a population of 157,585 in 29,629 households, of whom 77,147 were men and 80,438 women; 5,479 or 3.48% of its population were urban dwellers. The four largest ethnic groups reported in Konso were the Konso (87.01%), the Gawwada (9.2%), 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...
(1.25%), 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...
(0.75%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.79% of the population. Konso
Konso language
The Konso language is an East Cushitic language spoken in southwest Ethiopia. Native speakers of Konso number about 200,000...
was spoken as a first language by 86.64% of the inhabitants, 9.11% spoke Gawwada
Gawwada language
Gawwada is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in southern Ethiopia. Dialects include Dihina, Gergere, Gobeze, Gollango, Gorose, Harso.-External links:* Ethnologue information on...
, 2.26% spoke Oromiffa
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...
, and 1.4% spoke 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...
; the remaining 0.59% spoke all other primary languages reported. 65.62% of the population said they practiced traditional religions, 24.47% were Protestants
P'ent'ay
P'ent'ay or Pentay is a slang term widely used in modern Ethiopia, and among Ethiopians living abroad, to describe Ethiopian Christians who are not members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo, Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso, Roman Catholic or Ethiopian Catholic churches...
, and 5.49% practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity. 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...
, 8.14% of the population were considered literate; 3.79% of children aged 7–12 were in primary school; 1.45% of the children aged 13–14 were in junior secondary school, and 0.94% 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 89% of the urban houses and 11% of all houses had access to safe drinking water at the time of the census; 55% of the urban and 7% of the total had toilet facilities.