Tsigereda () is the capital of Gere-alta woreda (up to 1993, and again starting 2020). Tsigereda means "rose" in the local

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

language.

History

In Imperial times (before 1975), Tsigereda used to be the center of the Gere-alta woreda, part of the former

Enderta province Enderta or Inderta () is a former Provinces of Ethiopia, historical province of Ethiopia; it is located in the eastern edge of the Tigray Region, Tigray highlands. Enderta is bordered on the west by Tembien Province, Tembien, on the south and sout ...

. This Gere-alta woreda consisted of the western part of the current Hawzen and

Kilte Awulaelo Kilte Awulaelo (; also transliterated as Kǝlǝttä ʾAwlaʿlo) is one of Districts of Ethiopia, woredas in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Misraqawi Zone, Kilte Awulaelo is bordered on the south by the Debub Misraqawi Zone, Debub Misra ...

districts.

Geography

The ''tabia'' stretches down from the

Arebay Arebay is a ''tabia'' or municipality in the Degua Tembien, Dogu'a Tembien district of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia organised around the Arebay mountain peaks (2799 m). The ''tabia'' centre is in Arebay village, located approximately 13 km ...

peaks in

Dogu'a Tembien Dogu'a Tembien (, "Upper Tembien", sometimes transliterated as Degua Tembien or Dägʿa Tämben) is a woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is named in part after the former province of Tembien. Nowadays, the mountainous district is part of the ...

towards the headwaters of

Agefet The Agefet is a river of the Nile basin. Rising in the mountains of Gheralta in northern Ethiopia, it flows westward to empty finally in the Weri’i which itself discharges into Tekezé River. Characteristics The Agefet is a confined eph ...

river.

Geology

From the higher to the lower locations, the following geological formations are present: *

Antalo Limestone The Antalo Limestone, also known as the Antalo Sequence, is a geological formation in Ethiopia. It is between 300 and 800 metres thick and comprises fossiliferous limestones and marls that were deposited in a reef. Marine microfossils have shown ...

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...

alluvium Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...

and freshwater

tufa Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitation (chemistry), precipitate out of water in ambient temperature, unheated rivers or lakes. hot spring, Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar (but less ...

Climate

The rainfall pattern shows a very high seasonality with 70 to 80% of the annual rain falling in July and August. Mean temperature in Tsigereda is 22 °C, oscillating between average daily minimum of 12.5 °C and maximum of 31 °C. The contrasts between day and night air temperatures are much larger than seasonal contrasts.

Water availability

In this area with rains that last only for a couple of months per year, the main rivers (

and Amblo) are not permanent. Reservoirs of different sizes allow harvesting runoff from the rainy season for further use in the dry season. There are traditional surface

water harvesting Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is the collection and storage of rain, rather than allowing it to run off. Rainwater is collected from a roof-like surface and redirected to a tank, cistern, deep pit (well, shaft, or borehole), aquifer, or a reservoir w ...

ponds, particularly in places without permanent springs, called ''rahaya''. In addition, ''horoyo'', household ponds, recently constructed with variable success through campaigns. The

Ginda'i Ginda'i (also spelled Gindae) is a reservoir located in the Kilte Awula’ilo ''woreda'' of the Tigray Region in Ethiopia. The earthen dam that holds the reservoir was built in 1998 by SAERT. Dam characteristics * Dam height: 19.5 metres ...

water reservoir was constructed northwest of the town of Tsigereda for agricultural purposes. It suffers from siltation. Yet, the reservoir strongly contributes to greening the landscape, both through irrigation and seepage water.

Agriculture and livelihood

The population lives essentially from crop farming, supplemented with off-season work in nearby towns. The land is dominated by

farmland Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous with bot ...

s which are clearly demarcated and are cropped every year. Hence the agricultural system is a permanent upland farming system. The farmers have adapted their

cropping system The term cropping system refers to the crops, crop sequences and management techniques used on a particular agricultural field over a period of years. It includes all spatial and temporal aspects of managing an agricultural system. Historically, cro ...

s to the spatio-temporal variability in rainfall.

Religion and churches

Most inhabitants are Orthodox Christians. Among others, the following churches are located in the ''tabia'': Inda Gabir Emblo, Abune Aregawi and Kidist Maryam.

References

Sources

* {{Geographic location , Centre = Tsigereda , North =

Hawzien Hawzen ( Tigrinya: ሓውዜን, also transcribed as Hawzien or Hauzien) is a town in northern Ethiopia. Located in the Misraqawi (Eastern) Zone of the Tigray Region (or ''kilil''), this town has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of ...

, East =

Wukro Wukro (also transliterated Wuqro, Tigrinya language, Tigrigna: ውቕሮ; also known as Wukro Kilte Awulaelo, Tigrinya language, Tigrigna: ውቕሮ ክልተ ኣውላዕሎ) is a small town and separate Districts of Ethiopia, woreda in Tigray R ...

, South =

Addilal Addilal is a ''tabia'' or municipality in the Dogu'a Tembien district of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. The ''tabia'' centre is in Addilal village, located approximately to the east of the ''woreda'' town Hagere Selam. Geography The ''tabia ...

, West = Addi Walka , Southwest =

Populated places in the Tigray Region