Metemma (woreda)

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Metemma is one of the 105 woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Semien Gondar Zone, Metemma is bordered on the south by Qwara, on the west by Sudan, on the north by Sanja, and on the east by Chilga. Towns in Metemma include Metemma, Shehedi and Shinfa.

Elevations in this woreda range between 500 and 1000 meters above sea level. Rivers include the Atbarah. A survey of the land in this woreda shows that 23.6% is arable or cultivable, 4.13% pasture, 71% forest or shrubland, and the remaining 1.3% is considered degraded or other. Teff, corn, sorghum, cotton and sesame are important cash crops; the town of Metemma serves as an important trade gateway between Sudan and the Amhara Region.^[1] This woreda has been the major center of cotton production inside Ethiopia since the 1950s.^[2]

The economy of Metemma is predomantly agricultural. According to the Atlas of the Ethiopian Rural Economy published by the Central Statistical Agency (CSA), there are between 20 and 30 agricultural cooperatives specializing in cereal production in this woreda, and little other infrastructure.^[3]

Based on figures published by the CSA in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 78,328, of whom 35,911 were males and 42,417 were females; 19,331 or 24.68% of its population are urban dwellers, which is greater than the Zone average of 14.1%. With an estimated area of 3,995.00 square kilometers, Metemma has an estimated population density of 19.6 people per square kilometer, which is less than the Zone average of 60.23.^[4] The predominant ethnic group in this woreda is the Amhara people.

Metemma was selected by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2003 as an area for voluntary resettlement for farmers from overpopulated areas. Along with Qwara, the other woreda selected in Amhara that year, that year this woreda became the home for a total of 13,742 heads of households and 12,337 family members.^[5]

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