Limmu Sakka

Limmu Sakka is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. It is named in part after the former kingdom of Limmu-Ennarea, whose territories included the area this woreda now covers.

Part of the Jimma Zone, Limmu Sakka is bordered on the southwest by the Didessa River which separates it from the Illubabor Zone, on the northwest by the Misraq Welega Zone, on the northeast by the Mirab Shewa Zone, and on the southeast by Limmu Kosa. The administrative center of the woreda is Atnago; other towns include Saqqa, the capital of the former kingdom of Limmu-Ennarea.

Dora Gabena, Chalte and Ato Kelala are amongst the highest points in this woreda. A survey of the land in this woreda shows that 57.3% is arable or cultivable (7.7% was under annual crops), 22.8% pasture, 4.9% forest, and the remaining 15% is considered swampy, degraded or otherwise unusable. Teff, oranges and bananas are important cash crops. [ [http://oromiagov.org/Socio%20Economic%20Profile/Djimma%20Zone/Djimma%20Zone.pdf "Socio-economic profile of the DJimma (sic) Zone"] Government of Oromia Region (last accessed 1 August 2006).] . Coffee is also an important cash crop for this woreda; over 5,000 hectares are planted with this crop. [ [http://www.oromiacoffeeunion.org/production.htm "Coffee Production"] Oromia Coffee Cooperative Union website]

Industry in the woreda includes 61 grain mills, one coffee pulping and one coffee hulling mill. There were 42 Farmers Associations with 24,540 members and 10 Farmers Service Cooperatives with 8691 members. Limmu Sakka has 42 kilometers of dry-weather and 64 all-weather road, for an average of road density of 43.9 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers. About 54.6% of the urban and 10.9% of the rural population have 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 169,559, of whom 86,713 were males and 82,846 were females; 6,082 or 3.59% of its population are urban dwellers, which is less than the Zone average of 12.3%. With an estimated area of 2,416.10 square kilometers, Limmu Sakka has an estimated population density of 70.2 people per square kilometer, which is less than the Zone average of 150.6. [ [http://www.csa.gov.et/text_files/2005_national_statistics.htm CSA 2005 National Statistics] , Tables B.3 and B.4]

The Zonal Food Security and Disaster Prevention Office reported in December, 2006 that 3,466 farmer households with 15,000 members who were part of the resettlement program have achieved food self-sufficiency within a short time. These settlers came from the Arsi, Bale, Mirab and Misraq Hararghe Zones. [ [http://www.waltainfo.com/EnNews/2006/Dec/01Dec06/21217.htm "Over 3,400 resettler households become food self-sufficient"] (Walta Information Center)]

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