Seraro

Seraro is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Misraq Shewa Zone located in the Great Rift Valley, Seraro is bordered on the south and west by the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region, on the north by Lake Shala, and on the east by Shashamene; its western boundary is defined by the course of the Bilate River. The capital of this woreda is Aje; other towns include Rope.

The altitude of this woreda ranges from 1500 to 2300 meters above sea level. A survey of the land in this woreda shows that 51.8% is arable or cultivable, 1.8% pasture, 4.7% forest, and the remaining 41.6% is considered swampy, degraded or otherwise unusable. Haricot beans are an important cash crop. [ [http://oromiagov.org/Socio%20Economic%20Profile/East%20Shewa/East%20Shewa.pdf "Socio-economic profile of East Shewa"] Government of Oromia Region (last accessed 1 August 2006).] . Although Coffee is also an important cash crop of this woreda, less than 20 km² is planted with this crop. [ [http://www.oromiacoffeeunion.org/production.htm "Coffee Production"] , Oromia Coffee Cooperative Union website]

Industry in the woreda includes 7 small food-related industries employing 20 people, as well as 527 registered businesses inmcluding 227 wholesalers 218 retailers and 82 service providers. There were 59 Farmers Associations with 20,120 members and 9 Farmers Service Cooperatives with 10,060 members. Seraro has 74 kilometers of dry-weather and 37 all-weather road, for an average road density of 75.7 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers. About 6% of the total population has access to drinking water. [Government of Oromia Region, "Socio-economic profile."]

Based on figures published by the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 249,414, of whom 127,194 were males and 122,220 were females; 9,134 or 3.66% of its population are urban dwellers, which is less than the Zone average of 32.1%. With an estimated area of 1,467.03 square kilometers, Seraro has an estimated population density of 170 people per square kilometer, which is less than the Zone average of 181.7. [ [http://www.csa.gov.et/text_files/2005_national_statistics.htm CSA 2005 National Statistics] , Tables B.3 and B.4]

Notes