Afder () is one of the eleven Zones of the

Somali Region The Somali Region (, , ), also known as Soomaali Galbeed () and officially the Somali Regional State, is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in eastern Ethiopia. It is the largest region of Ethiopia. The state borders the Ethiopian regions ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. Afder is bordered on the southwest by the Ganale Dorya River which separates it from the Liben Zone, on the west by the

Oromia Region Oromia (, ) is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. Under Article 49 of 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia, Ethiopian Constitution, the capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa, also called Finfinne. The ...

, on the north by Nogob Zone, on the northeast by Shabele Zone, and on south by the

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

federal states of Hirshabelle, South West and

Jubaland Jubaland (; ; ), or the Juba Valley (), is a States and regions of Somalia, Federal Member State in southern Somalia. Its eastern border lies no more than east of the Jubba River, stretching from Dolow to the Indian Ocean, while its western si ...

. The administrative center of Afder is Hargele; other towns in Afder include West Imey, and Cherti

Demographics

Based on the 2007 census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), the zone had a total population of 570,629, of whom 325,764 were men and 244,865 women. While 45,763 or 8.02% were urban inhabitants, a further 316,032 or 55.38% were pastoralists. The

Somali language Somali is an Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language belonging to the Cushitic languages, Cushitic branch, primarily spoken by the Somalis, Somali people, native to Greater Somalia. It is an official language in Somalia, Somaliland, and Ethio ...

was spoken as a first language by 88.21%; the remaining 11.79% spoke all other primary languages reported. 100% of the population said they were

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

. The 1997 national census reported a total population for the zone of 358,998 in 53,075 households, of whom 200,948 were men and 158,050 were women; 25,747 or 7.17% of its population were urban dwellers. (This total also includes an estimate for the inhabitants of nine rural ''

kebele A ward (; ; ) is the smallest administrative unit of Ethiopia: a ward, a neighbourhood or a localized and delimited group of people. Somali word that has meaning of collected people where water is fairly sufficient and available to prolongue thei ...

s'', which were not counted; they were estimated to have 6,526 inhabitants, of whom 3,222 were men and 3,304 women.) The two largest ethnic groups reported in Afder were the Somali who made up 96.3% of the population and the Oromo (1.29%); all other ethnic groups made up 2.5% of the population. Somali was spoken as a first language by 93.23% of the inhabitants, and Garire by 2.16%; the remaining 4.61% spoke all other primary languages reported. Concerning

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

in the zone, 3.43% of the population were considered literate; 0.57% of children aged 7–12 were in primary school, while a negligible number of the children aged 13–14 were in junior secondary school, and none of children aged 15–18 were in senior secondary school. About 24.2% of the urban houses and 6.7% of all houses had access to safe

drinking water Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...

at the time of the census; about 23% of the urban and 4.3% of the total had toilet facilities.

Development

According to a May 24, 2004,

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

memorandum, none of the inhabitants of Afder had access to electricity, the zone has a road density of 8.3 kilometers per 1,000 square kilometers, the average rural household had 0.6 hectare of land (compared to the national average of 1.01 hectare of land and an average of 2.25 for pastoral regions) and the equivalent of 3.1 head of livestock. 28.2% of the population was in non-farm related jobs, compared to the national average of 25% and an average of 28% for pastoral regions. Only 12% of eligible children are enrolled in primary school and none in secondary schools. 100% of the zone was exposed to

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

and none 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, Gloss ...

. The memorandum gave this zone a drought risk rating of 660. In April 2006, in partnership with Al-Nejah Relief, CHF International began a program to restore shallow wells and improve sanitation habits in the Afder and Gode zones of the Somali region.

Agriculture

On 5–23 November 2003, the CSA conducted the first ever national agricultural census, of which the livestock census was an important component."Livestock aerial survey in the Somali Region"
, CSA (November 2003), Tables 4, 6 (accessed 17 May 2009) For the Somali region, the CSA generated estimated figures for the livestock population (cattle, sheep, goats, camels and equids) and their distribution by commissioning an aerial survey. For the Afder zone, its results included:

Notes

{{Districts of the Somali Region Somali Region Zones of Ethiopia