Saesi Tsaedaemba
Encyclopedia
Saesi Tsaedaemba is one of the 36 woreda
s in the Tigray Region
of Ethiopia
. Located in the Misraqawi Zone
at the eastern edge of the Ethiopian highlands
, Saesi Tsaedaemba is bordered on the south by Wukro
, on the southwest by Hawzen
, on the west by Ganta Afeshum
, on the northwest by Gulomahda
, on the north by Irob
, on the east by the Afar Region
, and on the southeast by Atsbi Wenberta
. Towns in Saesi Tsaedaemba include Edaga Hamus and Freweyni (also known as Sinkata).
es in this woreda. These include Adi Chewa Arbuta (near Freweyni), and the cluster of Petros and Paulos Melehayzenghi, Mikael Melehayzenghi and Medhane Alem Adi Kasho (near the village of Teka Tesfai). Near Edaga Hamus not only can one find the monolithic church of Gebriel Tsilalmao, but also nearby is a stelae similar to those found in Axum
only smaller, in the cemetery of the church of Maryam Tehot (a modern structure built on the foundations of an older building); the monument's date is unknown, but presumed pre-Christian.
Saesi Tsaedaemba was one of nine woredas in Tigray most affected by a drought during 2008, requiring emergency food supplies to be requested for an estimated 600,000 people.
of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 139,191, an increase of 37.16% over the 1994 census, of whom 65,796 are men and 73,395 women; 18,933 or 13.60% are urban inhabitants. With an area of 2,511.47 square kilometers, Saesi Tsaedaemba has a population density of 55.42, which is less than the Zone average of 56.93 persons per square kilometer. A total of 30,164 households were counted in this woreda, resulting in an average of 4.61 persons to a household, and 29,258 housing units.
The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 101,478, of whom 48,130 were men and 53,348 were women; 10,543 or 10.39% of its population were urban dwellers. The three largest ethnic groups reported in Saesi Tsaedaemba were the Tigrayan
(95.65%), the Afar
(2.39%), and the Saho
(1.82%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.14% of the population. Tigrinya
is spoken as a first language by 95.72%, Afar
by 2.21%, and 1.92% speak Saho
; the remaining 0.15% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 94.97% reporting that as their religion, and 4.39% were Muslim
. Concerning education
, 13.42% of the population were considered literate, which is greater than the Zone average of 9.01%; 21.97% of children aged 7-12 were in primary school; 1.4% of the children aged 13-14 were in junior secondary school; and 0.98% of the inhabitants aged 15-18 were in senior secondary school. Concerning sanitary conditions
, about 80% of the urban houses and 19% of all houses had access to safe drinking water at the time of the census; about 9% of the urban and about 3% of the total had toilet facilities.
, and 7.06% was devoted to other uses. For the land under cultivation in this woreda, 60% was planted in cereals, 9.6% in pulses, 0.81% in oilseeds, and 5 hectares in vegetables. The total area planted in fruit trees was 722 hectares, while 17 were planted in gesho. 69.31% of the farmers both raised crops and livestock, while 26.28% only grew crops and 4.41% only raised livestock. Land tenure in this woreda is distributed amongst 96.36% owning their land, and 2.39% renting; the number of people holding their land under other forms of tenure is missing.
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 Tigray Region
Tigray Region
Tigray Region is the northernmost of the nine ethnic regions of Ethiopia containing the homeland of the Tigray people. It was formerly known as Region 1...
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...
. Located in the Misraqawi Zone
Misraqawi Zone
Misraqawi is a Zone in the Ethiopian Region of Tigray. Misraqawi is bordered on the east by the Afar Region, on the south by Debubawi , on the west by Mehakelegnaw and on the north by Eritrea. Its highest point is Mount Asimba...
at the eastern edge of the Ethiopian highlands
Ethiopian Highlands
The Ethiopian Highlands are a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia, Eritrea , and northern Somalia in the Horn of Africa...
, Saesi Tsaedaemba is bordered on the south by Wukro
Wukro (woreda)
Wukro woreda, also known as Kilte Awulaelo, is one of the 36 woredas in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Misraqawi Zone, Wukro is bordered on the south by the Debubawi Zone, on the west by the Mehakelegnaw Zone, on the north by Hawzen, and on the east by Atsbi Wenberta. Wukro is the...
, on the southwest by Hawzen
Hawzen (woreda)
Hawzen is one of the 36 woredas in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Misraqawi Zone, Hawzen is bordered on the south by Wukro, on the west by the Mehakelegnaw Zone, on the north by Ganta Afeshum, and on the east by Saesi Tsaedaemba...
, on the west by Ganta Afeshum
Ganta Afeshum
Ganta Afeshum is one of the 36 woredas in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Misraqawi Zone, Ganta Afeshum is bordered on the south by Hawzen, on the west by the Mehakelegnaw Zone, on the north by Gulomahda, and on the east by Saesi Tsaedaemba...
, on the northwest by Gulomahda
Gulomahda
Gulomakeda is one of the 36 woredas in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Its name partly comes from the legendary Queen Makeda, also known as the Queen of Sheba. Part of the Misraqawi Zone, Gulomakeda is bordered on the south by Ganta Afeshum, on the west by the Mehakelegnaw Zone, on the north by...
, on the north by Irob
Irob (woreda)
Irob is one of the 36 woredas in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. This woreda is named after the Irob people, who are the predominant ethnic group living there...
, on the east by the Afar Region
Afar Region
Afar is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia, and is the homeland of the Afar people. Formerly known as Region 2, its current capital is Asayita; a new capital named Semera on the paved Awash - Asseb highway is under construction....
, and on the southeast by Atsbi Wenberta
Atsbi Wenberta
Atsbi Wenberta is one of the 36 woredas in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Located in the Misraqawi Zone at the eastern edge of the Ethiopian highlands, Atsbi Wenberta is bordered on the south by the Debubawi Zone, on the southwest by Wukro, and on the northwest by Saesi Tsaedaemba, and on the...
. Towns in Saesi Tsaedaemba include Edaga Hamus and Freweyni (also known as Sinkata).
Overview
There are several local monolithic churchMonolithic church
A monolithic church or rock-hewn church is a church made from a single block of stone. They are one of the most basic forms of monolithic architecture....
es in this woreda. These include Adi Chewa Arbuta (near Freweyni), and the cluster of Petros and Paulos Melehayzenghi, Mikael Melehayzenghi and Medhane Alem Adi Kasho (near the village of Teka Tesfai). Near Edaga Hamus not only can one find the monolithic church of Gebriel Tsilalmao, but also nearby is a stelae similar to those found in Axum
Axum
Axum or Aksum is a city in northern Ethiopia which was the original capital of the eponymous kingdom of Axum. Population 56,500 . Axum was a naval and trading power that ruled the region from ca. 400 BC into the 10th century...
only smaller, in the cemetery of the church of Maryam Tehot (a modern structure built on the foundations of an older building); the monument's date is unknown, but presumed pre-Christian.
Saesi Tsaedaemba was one of nine woredas in Tigray most affected by a drought during 2008, requiring emergency food supplies to be requested for an estimated 600,000 people.
Demographics
Based on the 2007 national 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 139,191, an increase of 37.16% over the 1994 census, of whom 65,796 are men and 73,395 women; 18,933 or 13.60% are urban inhabitants. With an area of 2,511.47 square kilometers, Saesi Tsaedaemba has a population density of 55.42, which is less than the Zone average of 56.93 persons per square kilometer. A total of 30,164 households were counted in this woreda, resulting in an average of 4.61 persons to a household, and 29,258 housing units.
The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 101,478, of whom 48,130 were men and 53,348 were women; 10,543 or 10.39% of its population were urban dwellers. The three largest ethnic groups reported in Saesi Tsaedaemba were the Tigrayan
Tigray-Tigrinya people
Tigray-Tigrinya are an ethnic group who live in the southern, central and northern parts of Eritrea and the northern highlands of Ethiopia's Tigray province. They also live in Ethiopia's former provinces of Begemder and Wollo, which are today mostly part of Amhara Region, though a few regions...
(95.65%), the Afar
Afar people
The Afar , also known as the Danakil, are an ethnic group in the Horn of Africa. They primarily live in the Afar Region of Ethiopia and in northern Djibouti, although some also inhabit the southern point of Eritrea.-Early history:...
(2.39%), and the Saho
Saho people
The Saho , sometimes called Soho, are an ethnic group living largely in the Horn of Africa. They are principally concentrated in the Southern and Northern Red Sea regions of Eritrea, but some also live in adjacent parts of Ethiopia.-Demographics:...
(1.82%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.14% of the population. Tigrinya
Tigrinya language
Tigrinya , also spelled Tigrigna, Tigrnia, Tigrina, Tigriña, less commonly Tigrinian, Tigrinyan, is a Semitic language spoken by the Tigrinya people in central Eritrea , where it is one of the two main languages of Eritrea, and in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia , where it...
is spoken as a first language by 95.72%, Afar
Afar language
Afar is a Lowland East Cushitic language spoken in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. It is believed to have 1.5 million speakers, the Afar. The basic word order in Afar, like in other East Cushitic languages, is subject–object–verb. Its speakers have a literacy rate of between one and three per cent...
by 2.21%, and 1.92% speak Saho
Saho language
The Saho language is a Cushitic language of Eritrea and Ethiopia.-Overview:It is spoken natively by the Saho people who traditionally inhabit territory in Eritrea bounded by the bay of Arafali in the east, the Laasi Ghedé valleys in the south, and the Eritrea highlands to the west .This speech area...
; the remaining 0.15% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 94.97% reporting that as their religion, and 4.39% were Muslim
Islam in Ethiopia
According to the latest 2007 national census, Islam is the second most widely practised religion in Ethiopia after Christianity, with over 25 million of Ethiopians adhering to Islam according to the 2007 national census, having arrived in Ethiopia in 615...
. 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...
, 13.42% of the population were considered literate, which is greater than the Zone average of 9.01%; 21.97% of children aged 7-12 were in primary school; 1.4% of the children aged 13-14 were in junior secondary school; and 0.98% 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 80% of the urban houses and 19% of all houses had access to safe drinking water at the time of the census; about 9% of the urban and about 3% of the total had toilet facilities.
Agriculture
A sample enumeration performed by the CSA in 2001 interviewed 24.879 farmers in this woreda, who held an average of 0.51 hectares of land. Of the 12,661 hectares of private land surveyed, 77.08% was under cultivation, 7.61% pasture, 7.56% fallow, 0.7% in woodlandForestry in Ethiopia
In the late nineteenth century, about 30% of Ethiopia was covered with forest. The clearing of land for agricultural use and the cutting of trees for fuel gradually changed the scene, and today forest areas have dwindled to less than 4% of Ethiopia's total land. The northern parts of the highlands...
, and 7.06% was devoted to other uses. For the land under cultivation in this woreda, 60% was planted in cereals, 9.6% in pulses, 0.81% in oilseeds, and 5 hectares in vegetables. The total area planted in fruit trees was 722 hectares, while 17 were planted in gesho. 69.31% of the farmers both raised crops and livestock, while 26.28% only grew crops and 4.41% only raised livestock. Land tenure in this woreda is distributed amongst 96.36% owning their land, and 2.39% renting; the number of people holding their land under other forms of tenure is missing.