Welkait

Welkait ወልቃይት
Woreda
Flag
Welkait
Coordinates: 13°45′N 37°19′E / 13.750°N 37.317°E / 13.750; 37.317Coordinates: 13°45′N 37°19′E / 13.750°N 37.317°E / 13.750; 37.317
Region	Tigray
Area
• Total	3,374.52 km2 (1,302.91 sq mi)
Population  (2007)
• Total	138,926

Welkait (Tigrinya: ወልቃይት) is an Ethiopian District or woreda and region in northwestern Ethiopia. From 1991 to 2020, it was administered as part of the Western Tigray zone of the Tigray Region. As a consequence of the Tigray War, Welkait is currently administered as part of the Amhara Region. This woreda is bordered to the north by Humera and to the south by Tsegede.^[1] It is bordered on the east by the North West Zone; the woredas of Tahtay Adiyabo and Asgede Tsimbla lie to the north-east, on the other side of the Tekezé River, and Tselemti to the east. The administrative center of Welkait is Addi Remets; other towns in the woreda include Mai'gaba and Awura.

Overview

Welkait is known for its fertile alluvial soil, which grows cash crops such sesame, cotton and also sorghum.

Demographics

Based on the 2007 census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 138,926, an increase of 90,186 over the 1994 national census, of whom 70,504 are men and 68,422 women; 10,758 or 7.74% are urban inhabitants. This is primarily attributed, as per writings such as Wolkait-Affairs-Achamyeleh, is to the resettlement project conducted by Tigray government. With an area of 3,374.52 km² (1,302.91 sq mi), Welkait has a population density of 41.17 people/km², which is greater than the Zone average of 28.94 people/km². A total of 30,375 households were counted in this woreda, resulting in an average of 4.57 persons in a household, and 29,336 housing units. The majority of the inhabitants said they practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 97.28% reporting that as their religion, while 2.71% of the population were Muslim.^[2]

The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 90,186, of whom 45,657 were men and 44,529 were women; 4,597 or 5.1% of its population were urban dwellers. The ethnic groups reported in Welkait are Tigray (96.58%), Amhara (3.03%); and all other ethnic groups made up only 0.39% of the population. Tigrinya is spoken as a major language by 97.14%, and 2.75% speak Amharic[citation needed]; the remaining 0.11% spoke all other primary languages reported. 96.75% of the population said they were Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, and 3.09% were Muslim. Concerning education, 3.9% of the population were considered literate, which is less than the Zone average of 9.01%; 3.36% of children aged 7–12 were in primary school, which is less than the Zone average of 11.34%; a negligible number of the children aged 13–14 were in junior secondary school, which is also less than the Zone average of 0.65%; and a negligible number of children aged 15–18 were in senior secondary school, which is less than the Zone average of 0.51%. Concerning sanitary conditions, about 1% of the urban houses and about 8% of all houses had access to safe drinking water at the time of the census; about 4% of the urban and about 4% of all houses had toilet facilities.^[3]

Ethnicity

Pro-Tigray demonstration in Welkait in 2016

*Urban and Rural Mi'irabawi Zone statistics because none are available for Welkait specifically.

Mother Language

*Urban and Rural Mi'irabawi Zone statistics because none are available for Welkait specifically.

Religion

Economy

Agriculture

A sample enumeration performed by the CSA in 2001 interviewed 24,417 farmers in this woreda, who held an average of 0.99 hectares of land. Of the 24,286 hectares of private land surveyed, over 86.69% was in cultivation, 1.27% pasture, 10.37% fallow, 0.03% in woodland, and 1.65% was devoted to other uses. For the land under cultivation in this woreda, 63.29% was planted in cereals, 4.19% in pulses, 18.24% in oilseeds, and 0.17% in vegetables is missing.^{[clarification needed]} The area planted in gesho was 25 hectares; the area in fruit trees is missing.^{[clarification needed]} 79.64% of the farmers both raised crops and livestock, while 10.96% only grew crops and 9.4% only raised livestock. Land tenure in this woreda is distributed amongst 73.93% owning their land, 25.09% renting, and 0.98% reported as holding their land under other forms of tenure.^[10] The intensive agriculture is necessary to feed people of the region due to the burgeoning human population, but continuing conversion of natural lands to agriculture is taking a toll on biodiversity in the area.^{[citation needed]}

Sugar industry

The Ethiopian Sugar Corporation is building a sugar mill in Welkait region.^[11]

Transportation

Ground Travel

In May 2010 construction was underway on a 98-kilometer road westwards from Adi Remets to ; construction of a road in the other direction, eastwards from Adi Remets to Dedebit in Asgede Tsimbla woreda, was awarded that month to Sur Construction for 801 million birr.^[12]

2020 woreda reorganisation

Between 2018 and 2020, as part of a reform aimed to deepen and strengthen decentralisation, woredas were reorganised, and a new woreda organisation came into existence in Tigray.^[13] As smaller towns had been growing, they have started providing a range of services (markets, even banks), so that people were travelling to the closest such towns for these services, but continued to have to travel to the formal woreda centre, often in a different direction, for most government administrative services. A huge consultation, involving numerous village meetings, was organised in 2018 and 2019, with heated debates, particularly in the more remote areas. Based on these consultations, woreda Welkait became inoperative and as of early 2020, its territory belongs to the following new woredas:

• Welkait(new, smaller, woreda)
• Awra woreda
• Korarit woreda
• May Gaba town

References