Danot (woreda)

Danot is one of the 47 woredas in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, named after its major town, Danot. Part of the Werder Zone, Danot is bordered on the south by Werder, on the west by the Degehabur Zone, on the north by Somalia, and on the east by Boh.

Overview

Danot was important locally for its wells, which were used by the nomadic pastoralists with the advent of the dry season. However, the construction of private birkas (underground concrete water tanks) in adjacent woredas, a development which started in the 1950s and later on dramatically increased after the 1970s, offered a solution to the absence of permanent water, and reduced somewhat the importance of these wells. While this encouraged birka owners to further diversify traditional animal husbandry beyond camels and small ruminants into water-dependent cattle, this also increased livestock population in an overpopulated region, putting additional pressure on shrinking resource base.^[1]

In the case of Danot, an agreement was made between threeSomali clans, the Habar Yoonis, Reer Sheikh Hassan, subclan of Reer Sheekh Abbayonis and their southern neighbors, the Abraahin (clan) of Ogaden, which limited the construction of birkas in the bushy grazing area, where there had been numerous conflicts over control of territory. This agreement between the 3 clans made Danot the border between them and that each could construct 16 birkas there; however in the Haud north of Danot to Ali Jama, controlled by the Habar Yoonis, and south of Danot, controlled by the Ogaden, no birkas woould be constructed. This was in part to create a buffer zone between them, but also to maintain the area as a prime grazing area for camels.^[2]

Demographics

Based on figures published by the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 48,890, of whom 26,611 were men and 22,279 were women; 998 or 2.04% of its population are urban dwellers, which is less than the Zone average of 9.2%. Information is not available on the area of Danot, so its population density cannot be calculated.^[3]

The 1997 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 39,951, of whom 22,166 were men and 17,785 were women; 668 or 1.67% of its population were urban dwellers. The largest ethnic group reported in Boh was the Somali 39,940 (99.98%).^[4]

Notes

1. ^ Impact of Insufficient Deyr Rains on Nomad Access to Food in the Former Eastern Hararghe Area of the Ethiopian Somali National State UNDP Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia report, dated February 1997 (accessed 22 December 2008)
2. ^ "Changing Pastoralism in the Ethiopian Somali National Regional State (Region 5)", UNDP Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia report, dated 30 May 1998 (accessed 22 December 20080
3. ^ CSA 2005 National Statistics, Tables B.3 and B.4. Rural population numbers are believed to be underreported for this Region.
4. ^ 1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Somali Region, Vol. 1 Tables 2.1, 2.12 (accessed 10 January 2009). The results of the 1994 census in the Somali Region were not satisfactory, so the census was repeated in 1997.

Coordinates: 7°50′N 45°50′E / 7.833°N 45.833°E / 7.833; 45.833