Kersa (Hararge)

Kersa is one of the woredas in the East Hararghe Zone of the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. It is named after a river that flows through it, the Kersa. The woreda 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 administrative center of the woreda 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; other bodies of water include the seasonal Lake Adele. 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.Coffee is also an important cash crop; over 50 square kilometers are planted with this crop.

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. This includes the paved highway from Harar to Dire Dawa. About 22.1% of the urban, 6.9% of the rural and 7.7% of the total population have access to drinking water.

In 1985, during the Derg regime, villagization was forcibly imposed in this woreda, forcing people to resettle in fewer villages; for example, the 28 villages of Adele Keke kebele were concentrated into three settlements. Those who opposed the program were arrested, tied up, and beaten. One hardship this imposed was labor and material loss because new houses had to be built. With the demise of the Derg, these new villages were abandoned and the inhabitants returned to their original homes.

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Wikipedia