Bench Sheko (previously known as Bench Maji) is a zone in the

South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region The South West Region, officially the South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region () is a regional state in southwestern Ethiopia. It was split off from the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR) on 23 November 2021 after a succes ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. Bench Sheko is bordered on the south and southeast by West Omo, on the west by the

Gambela Region The Gambela Region (also spelled Gambella; am, ጋምቤላ), officially the Gambela Peoples' Region, is a regional state in western Ethiopia, bordering South Sudan. Previously known as Region 12, its capital is Gambela. The Region is situated ...

on the north by Sheka, and on the east by Keffa. The administrative center of Bench Sheko is

Mizan Teferi Mizan Tefere (also called simply Mizan) is the largest town in South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region and one of four Capital cities of the region. Mizan is also the administrative centre, of the Bench Sheko Zone in the South West Ethiopia Peoples ...

Overview

Bench Sheko has 142 kilometers of dry-weather roads, for an average road density of 22 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers. The highest point in this Zone is Mount Guraferda (2494 meters). The

Omo National Park Omo National Park is a national park in Ethiopia founded in 1980. Located in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region on the west bank of the Omo River, the park covers approximately 4,068 square kilometers, about 870 kilometers so ...

is located on the western bank of the Omo River. The main food crops in this Zone include

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

, ''godere'' (

taro Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Africa ...

root), and

enset ''Ensete ventricosum'', commonly known as enset or ensete, Ethiopian banana, Abyssinian banana, pseudo-banana, false banana and wild banana, is an herbaceous species of flowering plant in the banana family Musaceae. The domesticated form of ...

, while

sorghum ''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many othe ...

teff ''Eragrostis tef'', also known as teff, Williams lovegrass or annual bunch grass, is an annual grass, a species of lovegrass native to the Horn of Africa, notably to both Eritrea and Ethiopia. It is cultivated for its edible seeds, also known as ...

, wheat and barley are cultivated to a significant extent. Although cattle, shoats and poultry are produced in limited numbers, meat and milk are very much appreciated.

Cash crop A cash crop or profit crop is an Agriculture, agricultural crop which is grown to sell for profit. It is typically purchased by parties separate from a farm. The term is used to differentiate marketed crops from staple crop (or "subsistence crop") ...

s include fruits (bananas, pineapples, oranges) and spices (e.g.

coriander Coriander (;

and ginger);

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

is also an important local source of income.Joachim D. Ahrens
"Kefa, the Cradle of Coffee - a Situation Report on the Western Zones of Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Regional State"
UNDP-EUE Report, January 1997 (accessed 23 January 2009) However,

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

is the primary cash crop. The

Central Statistical Agency The Central Statistical Agency (CSA; Amharic: ማዕከላዊ ስታቲስቲክስ ኤጀንሲ) is an agency of the government of Ethiopia designated to provide all surveys and censuses for that country used to monitor economic and social growth ...

(CSA) reported that 10,097 tons of coffee were produced in Bench Sheko in the year ending in 2005, based on inspection records from the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea authority. This represents 10.6% of the SNNPR's output and 4.4% of Ethiopia's total output.

Demographics

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the CSA, this Zone has a total population of 652,531, of whom 323,348 are men and 329,183 women; with an area of 19,252.00 square kilometers, Bench Sheko has a population density of 33.89. While 75,241 or 11.53% are urban inhabitants, a further 398 or 0.06% are pastoralists. A total of 157,598 households were counted in this Zone, which results in an average of 4.14 persons to a household, and 151,940 housing units. The seven largest ethnic groups reported in this Zone were the Bench (45.11%), the Me'en (21.36%), the Amhara (8.23%), the Kafficho (6.55%), the Dizi (5.17%), the Sheko (4.21%), and the Suri (3.88%); all other ethnic groups made up 5.49% of the population. Bench is spoken as a first language by 44.54%, 21.36% spoke Me'en, 12.5%

Amharic Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...

, 5.09%

Dizin Dizin ( fa, دیزین) is the largest Iranian ski resort. It is located in the Alborz mountain range, about 70km North from Tehran. It was established during the 1960s under the reign of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Dizin is the first ski and winter ...

, 5.03% spoke Kafa, 4.31% spoke Sheko, and 3.88% Suri; the remaining 3.29% spoke all other primary languages reported. 49.27% were

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

, 18.12% of the population said they practiced

Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, ''Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan'') is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Chris ...

, 26.34% practiced traditional beliefs, and 3.47% were

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

. In the 1994 Census, Bench Sheko had a population of 325,878 in 85,236 households, of whom 163,339 were men and 162,539 women; 23,502 or 7.21% of its population were urban dwellers. (This total also includes an estimate for the inhabitants of 7 rural

kebele A ward ( am, ቀበሌ; om, Araddaa; ) is the smallest administrative unit of Ethiopia: a ward, a neighbourhood or a localized and delimited group of people. It is part of a district, itself usually part of a zone, which in turn are grouped into ...

s, which were not counted; they were estimated to have 3,458 inhabitants, of whom 2,582 were men and 876 women.) The six largest ethnic groups reported in this Zone were the Bench (42.04%), the Me'en (15.6%), the Kafficho (7.92%), the Amhara (6.95%), the Dizi (6.46%), and the Suri (6%); all other ethnic groups made up 15.03% of the population. Bench is spoken as a first language by 42.1%, 15.55% spoke Me'en, 11.52%

, 6.3%

, 6% Suri, and 5.93% spoke Kafa; the remaining 12.6% spoke all other primary languages reported. According to a May 24, 2004

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

memorandum, 7% of the inhabitants of Bench Sheko have access to electricity, this zone has a road density of 15.5 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers (compared to the national average of 30 kilometers), the average rural household has 0.3 hectare of land (compared to the national average of 1.01 hectare of land and an average of 0.89 for the SNNPR) the equivalent of 0.5 heads of livestock. 15.7% of the population is in non-farm related jobs, compared to the national average of 25% and a Regional average of 32%. 81% of all eligible children are enrolled in primary school, and 12% in secondary schools. 44% of the zone is exposed to

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

, and 54% to

tsetse fly Tsetse ( , or ) (sometimes spelled tzetze; also known as tik-tik flies), are large, biting flies that inhabit much of tropical Africa. Tsetse flies include all the species in the genus ''Glossina'', which are placed in their own family, Glo ...

. The memorandum gave this zone a drought risk rating of 303.World Bank, ''Four Ethiopias: A Regional Characterization''
(accessed 23 March 2006).

Woredas

Current

woreda Districts of Ethiopia, also called woredas ( am, ወረዳ; ''woreda''), are the third level of the administrative divisions of Ethiopia – after ''zones'' and the '' regional states''. These districts are further subdivided into a number of ...

s of Bench Shako Zone are: * Bero *

Debub Bench Debub Bench is one of the woredas in the South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. It is named for the Bench people. Part of the Bench Maji Zone, Debub Bench is bordered on the south by Meinit Shasha, on the west by Guraferda, on the north ...

Guraferda Guraferda is one of the woredas in the South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Bench Maji Zone, Guraferda is bordered on the south by Bero, on the west and north by the Gambela Region, on the northeast by Sheko, on the east ...

Meinit Goldiya Meinit Goldiya is one of the woredas in the South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Bench Maji Zone, Meinit Goldiya is bordered on the south by Meinit Shasha, on the west by Debub Bench, on the northwest by She Bench, and on ...

Meinit Shasha Meinit Shasha is one of the woredas in the South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Bench Maji Zone, Meinit Shasha is bordered on the south by Maji, on the southwest by Bero, on the west by Guraferda, on the north by Debub Benc ...

* Mizan Aman Town * Semien Bench * She Bench * Sheko Former woredas are: * Bench *

Meinit Meinit was one of the 77 woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Bench Maji Zone, Meinit was bordered on the south by Dizi, on the west by Sheko, on the north by Bench, on the east by the Kefi ...

Notes

{{Authority control Zones of Ethiopia South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region