Kersa (Hararge)

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For the woreda in the Jimma Zone, see Kersa (Jimma).

Kersa is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. It is named after a river that flows through it, the Kersa.

Part of the Misraq (East) Hararghe Zone, Kersa is bordered on the south by Bedeno, on the west by Meta, on the north by Dire Dawa, on the northeast by Haro Maya, and on the southeast by Kurfa Chele. The woreda capital is Kersa; other towns include Lange.

The altitude of this woreda ranges from 1400 to 3200 meters above sea level. Rivers include the Weter, Lange and Goro. A survey of the land in Kersa (released in 1995/96) shows that 28.5% is arable or cultivable, 2.3% pasture, 6.2% forest, and the remaining 56.3% is considered built-up, degraded or otherwise unusable. Khat, fruits and vegetables are important cash crops.^[1] Coffee is also an important cash crop; over 50 km² is planted with this crop.^[2]

Industry in the woreda includes 22 grain mills employing 50 people, as well as 287 registered businesses including wholesalers, retailers and service providers. There were 35 Farmers Associations with 27,837 members and 3 Farmers Service Cooperatives with an unknown number of members. Kersa has 50 kilometers of dry-weather and 37 of all-weather road, for an average road density of 187.5 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers. About 22.1% of the urban, 6.9% of the rural and 7.7% of the total population have access to drinking water.^[3]

Based on figures published by the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 169,330, of whom 82,537 were males and 86,793 were females; 12,203 or 7.21% of its population are urban dwellers, which is about the same as the Zone average of 6.9%. With an estimated area of 463.75 square kilometers, Kersa has an estimated population density of 365.1 people per square kilometer, which is greater than the Zone average of 102.6.^[4]

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