Gedeb

Gedeb (also called Gedeb Asasa) is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Arsi Zone, Gedeb is bordered on the south by the Bale Zone, on the west by Kofele, and on the north and east by Bekoji. The woreda capital is Asasa.

The altitude of this woreda ranges from 1000 to 3280 meters above sea level; Mount Kaka is the highest point not only in the woreda, but in the Region. Melka Wakena Dam, its power station and its lake of 816 hectares are located in this woreda. A survey of the land in this woreda shows that 76.9% is arable or cultivable, 17.3% pasture, 0.4% forest, and the remaining 5.4% is considered swampy, mountainous or otherwise unusable. Garadela and Temela are the two state farms in this woreda. Linseed is an important cash crop. [ [http://oromiagov.org/Socio%20Economic%20Profile/Arsi/Arsi%20Zone.pdf "Socio-economic profile of Arsi Zone"] Government of Oromia Region (last accessed 1 August 2006).] .

Industry in the woreda includes two edible oil mills, 22 grain mills and one brick factory employing 104 people, rock quarries, as well as 722 registered businesses which include 284 wholesalers, 216 retailers and 222 service providers. There were 25 Farmers Associations with 21,373 members and 4 Farmers Service Cooperatives with 4270 members. Gedeb has 46 kilometers of dry-weather and 78 of all-weather road, for an average of road density of 108.8 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers. About 42.5% 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 169,940, of whom 86,633 were males and 83,307 were females; 19,506 or 11.48% of its population are urban dwellers, which is less than the Zone average of 12.3%. With an estimated area of 1,139.38 square kilometers, Gedeb has an estimated population density of 149.2 people per square kilometer, which is greater than the Zone average of 132.2. [ [http://www.csa.gov.et/text_files/2005_national_statistics.htm CSA 2005 National Statistics] , Tables B.3 and B.4]

In the 1970s, J. Desmond Clark of the University of California excavated a Paleolithic site in this woreda, along the upper reaches of the Shabelle River. [Paul B. Henze, "Layers of Time: A history of Ethiopia" (New York: Palgrave, 2000), p. 9]

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