Shinile-Zone

The Shinile zone is the northernmost administrative zone of the Somali region in Ethiopia. According to 2007 census, it had 456,434 inhabitants, of whom 64,122 lived in urban areas.

Geography

The zone is divided into the six woredas Afdem, Mieso, Ayisha, Erer, Dembel and Shinile. Up to Dembel are all Woreda main places - Afdem, Mieso, Ayisha, and Erer Shinile - on the railway line from Addis Ababa to Djibouti via Dire Dawa. Other major towns are Dewele, Smekeb, Harmukale, Arebi, Adigale, Asibuli, Hurso and bike.

Shinile lies in the lowlands north of the highlands of Harar and is thus part of the Afar lowlands. The area falls of up to 1350 m altitude in the south to about 950 m in the north. Watercourses running from south to north, reaching the dry northern plains only during rainy periods. The area is arid to semi- arid.

Population

In 1997, of 354 053 inhabitants, 96.27 % Somali, Oromo 2.57% and 0.77 % Amhara. Most belong to the clan of the Somali Issa Dir, besides living in Shinile also Gurgura and Gadabursi ( which also belong to you ) and Hawiye.

96.29 % of the population spoke Somali as their mother tongue in 1997, 2.37% and 1.16 % Oromo Amharic. 6.27% spoke a second language: 3.16% controlled addition Oromo, Amharic 1.6% and 0.56 % Somali. Of the more than ten year old population could read and write 4.89%.

Economy

Most important livelihoods are livestock and some arable farming ( Agropastoralismus ). 75-85 % of the population - especially the Issa - are ranchers who hold mainly sheep and cattle, in less productive areas, camels and goats. Even households that do not have camel herd, at least keep a camel as a beast of burden. In the dry season sheep and milk-producing animals remain in the vicinity of the villages, while camels, cattle and goats are fed into other pastures. The ranchers feed to a large part of the milk and ghee produced therefrom, they also sell cattle and buy it mainly sorghum and sugar.

Of the Gurgura, Gadabursi Hawiye and now lives the majority as Agropastoralisten. They build in the south of the zone, in the hilly area at the foot of the highlands, sorghum and maize and keep mainly cattle. Overall, 15-25 % of the inhabitants of the Shinile zone are Agropastoralisten. This way of life has already been held in the Woreda Dembel from about 1965 collection, in other areas, ranchers, especially in the early 1990s started to also practice agriculture. This allowed them to reduce their herds and adapt to droughts recurring better. The transition to Agropastoralismus was also supported by the Ethiopian government. In addition, the Somali Oromo farmers wanted so before coming out of the highlands, the increasingly went into the lowlands to till there claimed by Somaliland.

According to estimates by the Central Statistical Agency in 2003, based on aerial photographs, there was in the zone around 200,000 cattle, 670,000 sheep, 850,000 goats and 100,000 camels. Drought is always a problem, so 2000 and 2002, respectively 40 % and 37% of the livestock died. Especially between the Issa and Afar there are conflicts over scarce water and land. 1997 to have read of the more than 10 -year-old population 3.4%.

Swell

Afder | Degehabur | Fiq | Gode | Jijiga | Korahe | Liben | Shinile | Warder

• Somali
• Zone in Ethiopia