Kafta Humera

Kafta Humera is one of the 36 woredas in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Mi'irabawi Zone, Kafta Humera is bordered on the south by Tsegede, on the west by Sudan, then by the Tekezé River which separates Kafta Humera from Eritrea on the north and Tahtay Adiyabo on the east, and on the southeast by Wolqayt. Its administrative center is Humera ; other towns in Kafta Humera include Addi Hirdi.

Based on figures published by the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 71,415, of whom 33,282 were males and 38,133 were females; 28,900 or 40.47% of its population are urban dwellers, which is greater than the Zone average of 14.7%. With an estimated area of 6,196.56 square kilometers, Kafta Humera has an estimated population density of 11.5 people per square kilometer, which is less than the Zone average of 40.62. [ [http://www.csa.gov.et/text_files/2005_national_statistics.htm CSA 2005 National Statistics] , Tables B.3 and B.4]

Kafta Humera, was selected by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Ethiopia) in 2003 as an area for voluntary resettlement for farmers from overpopulated areas. Along with Tsegede woreda, the other woreda selected in Tigray that year, welcomed that year a total of 7334 heads of households and 618 total family members. [ [http://www.dppc.gov.et/downloadable/map/Thematic%20maps/resettlement/Resettlement%202003.pdf "Resettlement 2003"] , Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agency (accessed 26 November 2006)]

In the years before the Ethiopian Revoution, Kafta Humera was the site of a government program to provide land to landless peasants fron Tigray and Eritrea. By the end of 1971, some 500 farmers occupied about 7,000 square kilometres, and a further 50,000 were employed as seasonal workers. Although the program was intended for landless citizens, much of the available land had been taken by absentee landlords from the aristocracy -- one estimate is as high as 55% of all grants. [ [http://130.238.24.99/library/resources/dossiers/local_history_of_ethiopia/h/ORTHOS.pdf "Local History in Ethiopia"] (pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 11 December 2007)]

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