Mieso, Oromia (woreda)

The altitude of Mieso ranges from 1107 to 3106 meters above sea level; the highest point is Mount Asabot (1523 meters). Rivers include the Beke. A survey of the land in Mieso shows that 11.5% is arable or cultivable (10.7% of the total area was under annual crops), 23.7% cultivable if water were available, 8.9% pasture, 28.7% forest or brushland, and the remaining 27.3% is considered hilly, built-up or otherwise unusable. Sesame and haricot beans are important cash crops.[1] Local points of interest in Mieso woreda include the Monastery of Asabot Selassie, located at the top of Mount Asabot, 20 kilometers northeast of the town of Asabot.[2] This woreda is served by the Ethio-Djibouti Railways, with stops at Arba Bordode, Asabot, Kora, Mieso and Mulu.

In 8 of the 37 kebeles, the predominant agricultural practice is pastoralism; some pastoralists are sedentary and other migrate with their herds in search of forage and water. Cattle and goats are the most common livestock, and the vegetation is primarily acacia with grass cover beneath. Mieso reportedly has become, since 2003, one of the major markets of goats supplying the slaughterhouses in Mojo and Metehara which export mutton. In 2005 there were 5 goat meatpacking companies based in this woreda, which included ELFORA Agro-Industries.[1]

There are seven non–agricultural cooperatives organized in this woreda. Three of these are multipurpose, another three specialize in mining, while the last one is dedicated to saving and credit. There are also 13 farmers' cooperatives: 9 multipurpose, 2 credit and saving, and 2 dairy cooperatives run by women which are at the beginning stage of organization. There is also one self-initiated cooperative in Oda Roba kebele, for the purpose of crop harvesting. There are no micro-finance institutions in Mieso.[1]

It was in this woreda where Emperor Iyasu V, hurrying back to the capital city of Addis Ababa to deal with a palace coup, was defeated by the plotters in October, 1916.[3] In the 1950s, the woreda was one of the about fifteen most important cotton production areas in Ethiopia outside of Eritrea.[4]

Numerous conflicts between the local Oromos and Somalis in Mieso followed the October 2004 referendum to establish the disputed boundary between the Oromia and Somali Regions; over 2,500 people displaced from their homes in December 2004 had sought refuge in the woreda. Conflicts between refugees and local people had erupted at Arba Bordode, Mieso and Mulu by mid-February.[5] NGOs working in the area reported these conflicts continued in the town of Mieso as late as 14 July 2005.[6]

The 2007 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 130,709, of whom 66,891 were men and 63,818 were women; 25,388 or 19.42% of its population were urban dwellers. The majority of the inhabitants said they were Muslim, with 97.06% of the population reporting they observed this belief, while 2.66% of the population practised Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.[7]

Based on figures published by the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 137,126, of whom 66,553 are men and 70,573 are women; 36,165 or 26.37% of its population are urban dwellers, which is greater than the Zone average of 9.6%. With an estimated area of 2,573.44 square kilometers, Mieso has an estimated population density of 53.3 people per square kilometer, which is less than the Zone average of 101.8.[8]

The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 91,572, of whom 47,061 were men and 44,511 women; 18,073 or 19.74% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. (This total also includes an estimate for the inhabitants of Mulu, who were not counted. Based on population sizes registered during the preliminary census work, Mulu was estimated to have 2,129 inhabitants, of whom 1,080 were men and 1,049 women.) The four largest ethnic groups reported in Mieso were the Oromo (88.09%), the Somali (5.77%), the Amhara (3.46%), and the Argobba (0.66%); all other ethnic groups made up 2.02% of the population. Oromiffa was spoken as a first language by 88.37%, 5.61% spoke Amharic, and 5.29% spoke Somali; the remaining 0.73% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants were Moslem, with 95.23% of the population reporting they practiced that belief, while 4.55% of the population said they professed Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.[9]