Tach Gayint ( Amharic: ታች ጋይንት "Lower Gayint") is a

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 ...

in the

Amhara Region The Amhara Region ( am, አማራ ክልል, Åmara Kilil), officially the Amhara National Regional State (), is a regional state in northern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Amhara people. Its capital is Bahir Dar which is the seat of the Re ...

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 ...

. Part of the

Debub Gondar Zone South Gondar ( Amharic: ደቡብ ጎንደር) (or Debub Gondar) is a Zone in the Ethiopian Amhara Region. This zone is named for the city of Gondar, which was the capital of Ethiopia until the mid-19th century, and has often been used as a name ...

, Tach Gayint is bordered on the south by the

Bashilo River The Bashilo River (less often known as the Beshitta) is located in Ethiopia. Known for its canyon, which one source describes as almost as extensive as the canyon of its parent the Abay, also known as the Blue Nile, the river originates just wes ...

which separates it from the

Debub Wollo Zone South Wollo ( Amharic: ደቡብ ወሎ) is a zone in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. It acquired its name from the former province of Wollo. South Wollo is bordered on the south by North Shewa and the Oromia Region, on the west by East Gojjam, ...

, on the west by Simada, on the north by Lay Gayint, and on the east by the

Checheho River The Checheho River is a small river located in north-central Ethiopia. Part of the watershed of the Abay River, it rises to the east of Debre Zebit to flow south to join the Bashilo River. Its major tributary is the Zhit'a, which enters the Chech ...

which separates it from the

Semien Wollo Zone North Wollo ( Amharic: ሰሜን ወሎ) also called Semien Wollo, is a zone in Amhara Region of Ethiopia. It is bordered on the south by South Wollo, on the west by South Gondar, on the north by Wag Hemra, on the northeast by Tigray Region, a ...

. The major town in Tach Gayint is Arb Gebeya.

Overview

The elevations of this woreda range from 750 to 2800 meters above sea level; about 23% is classified lowland, 63% mid-level, and 23.7% uplands. Rivers and streams include the Futan. The topography of Tach Gayint is distinguished by gullies and rugged terrain covering 54% of its surface, while mountains cover 23% and plains 22%. Above all a significant portion of the arable land is degraded. Deforestation is a serious problem in Tach Gayint, and it has been increasing rapidly. Once all of the trees had been cut for firewood, locals then turned to extracting the roots, which has critically damaged the soil in this woreda. As Sileshi Tessera writes in his study, "Tach Gayint has been virtually stripped of vegetation." A sample survey reveals that the total area of (farmland apart from the homestead) is 31,386.37 hectares (31.5%), common grazing land is 8,107.11 hectares (8.1%) and of (gardens around the homestead) is 46,174.03 hectares (46.4%). The major agricultural crops in Tach Gayint include: cereals such as

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 ...

(42,873 quintals harvested in 2005), barley (31,134 quintals) and wheat (20,027 quintals); pulses such as

fava beans ''Vicia faba'', commonly known as the broad bean, fava bean, or faba bean, is a species of vetch, a flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated as a crop for human consumption, and also as a cover crop. Varieti ...

(5,174 quintals), field peas (3,576 quintals), haricot beans (3,037 quintals), and chick peas (1,334 quintals); vegetables such as potatoes (18,874 quintals); bananas (1,637 quintals) and hops (2,163 quintals). Due to the extreme poverty endemic in this woreda, Sileshi Tessera noted the importance of local social institutions, which redistributes food to needy members. The most important – and popular – is the , which was adopted in Tach Gayint only six or seven years before Sileshi's study. Other social institutions present include the , , and the ; the last two also provides cash funds to needy members. On the other hand, modern assistance institutions, for example microfinance programs, have proven less successful.

Demographics

Based on the 2007 national census conducted by 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 growt ...

of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 101,956, an increase of 21.15% over the 1994 census, of whom 51,041 are men and 50,915 women; 8,000 or 7.85% are urban inhabitants. With an area of 825.30 square kilometers, Tach Gayint has a population density of 123.54, which is less than the Zone average of 145.56 persons per square kilometer. A total of 23,664 households were counted in this woreda, resulting in an average of 4.31 persons to a household, and 22,843 housing units. The majority of the inhabitants 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 Chri ...

, with 92.73% reporting that as their religion, while 7.15% of the population said they were Muslim. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 84,158 in 18,813 households, of whom 42,593 were men and 41,565 were women; 2,675 or 3.18% of its population were urban dwellers. The largest ethnic group reported in Tach Gayint was the Amhara (99.87%). Amharic was spoken as a first language by 99.94%. The majority of the population practiced

with 92.2% professing that belief, while 7.74% of the population said they were Muslim.''1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Amhara Region'', Vol. 1, part 1
Tables 2.1, 2.7, 2.10, 2.13, 2.17, Annex II.2 (accessed 9 April 2009)

Notes

{{Districts of the Amhara Region Districts of Amhara Region