Addi Walka Explained

Official Name:Addi Walka
Pushpin Map:Ethiopia
Pushpin Label Position:bottom
Pushpin Map Caption:Location within Ethiopia
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Ethiopia
Subdivision Type1:Region
Subdivision Name1:Tigray
Subdivision Type2:Zone
Subdivision Name2:Debub Misraqawi (Southeastern)
Subdivision Type3:Woreda
Subdivision Name3:Dogu'a Tembien
Area Total Km2:66.61
Timezone:EAT
Utc Offset:+3
Coordinates:13.7167°N 57°W
Elevation M:2400

Addi Walka is a tabia or municipality in the Dogu'a Tembien district of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. The tabia centre is in Kelkele village, located approximately 16 km northeast of the woreda town Hagere Selam.

Geography

The tabia stretches down from Dogu'a Tembien's northern ridges towards the Agefet valley. The highest place is the cliff under Arebay (2,500 m.a.s.l.) and the lowest place along Agefet River (1,728 m.a.s.l.).

Geology

From the higher to the lower locations, the following geological formations are present:[1]

See also: Soil in Dogu'a Tembien.

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 Kelkele is 18.8 °C, oscillating between average daily minimum of 10.5 °C and maximum of 26.7 °C. The contrasts between day and night air temperatures are much larger than seasonal contrasts.[4]

Springs

As there are no permanent rivers, the presence of springs is of utmost importance for the local people. The main springs in the tabia are:[5]

Reservoirs

In this area with rains that last only for a couple of months per year, reservoirs of different sizes allow harvesting runoff from the rainy season for further use in the dry season. Traditional surface water harvesting ponds, particularly in places without permanent springs, are called rahaya. Horoyo, household ponds, have been recently constructed through campaigns.[6]

Settlements

The tabia centre Kelkele holds a few administrative offices, a health post, a primary school, and some small shops. There are a few more primary schools across the tabia. The main other populated places are:[7]

Agriculture and livelihood

The population lives essentially from crop farming, supplemented with off-season work in nearby towns. The land is dominated by farmlands which are clearly demarcated and are cropped every year. Hence the agricultural system is a permanent upland farming system.[8] The farmers have adapted their cropping systems to the spatio-temporal variability in rainfall.[9]

History and culture

History

The history of the tabia is strongly confounded with the history of Tembien.

Religion and churches

Most inhabitants are Orthodox Christians. The following churches are located in the tabia:

Inda Siwa

In the main villages, there are traditional beer houses (Inda Siwa), often in unique settings, which are a good place for resting and chatting with the local people. Most renown in the tabia is Tkun Asgedom at Bet Moka'e.[5]

Roads and communication

The main road MekelleHagere SelamAbiy Addi runs some 7–12 km south of the tabia. People have the choice to walk to Ala'isa or Tsigereda to find bus services to the towns. A rural access road (sometimes disused) links Addi Walka to the main asphalt road.

Tourism

Its mountainous nature and proximity to Mekelle makes the tabia fit for tourism.[10]

Geotouristic sites

The high variability of geological formations and the rugged topography invites for geological and geographic tourism or "geotourism".[11] Geosites in the tabia include especially the dissected, Grand Canyon-like landscapes.

Trekking routes

A trekking route has been established in this tabia.[12] The track of Gh1, from south to north across the tabia, is not marked on the ground but can be followed using downloaded .GPX files.[13]

Accommodation and facilities

The facilities are very basic.[14] One may be invited to spend the night in a rural homestead or ask permission to pitch a tent. Hotels are available in Hagere Selam and Mekelle.

Notes and References

  1. Book: Sembroni . A. . Molin . P. . Dramis . F. . Regional geology of the Dogu'a Tembien massif. In: Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains - The Dogu'a Tembien District . 2019 . SpringerNature . 978-3-030-04954-6 .
  2. Bosellini . A. . Russo . A. . Fantozzi . P. . Assefa . G. . Tadesse . S. . The Mesozoic succession of the Mekelle Outlier (Tigrai Province, Ethiopia). . Mem. Sci. Geol. . 1997 . 49 . 95–116.
  3. Moeyersons . J. and colleagues . Age and backfill/overfill stratigraphy of two tufa dams, Tigray Highlands, Ethiopia: Evidence for Late Pleistocene and Holocene wet conditions. . Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology . 2006 . 230 . 1–2 . 162–178 . 10.1016/j.palaeo.2005.07.013 . 2006PPP...230..165M .
  4. Book: Jacob . M. and colleagues . Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains . Dogu'a Tembien's Tropical Mountain Climate . GeoGuide . 2019 . 45–61 . SpringerNature . 978-3-030-04954-6 . 10.1007/978-3-030-04955-3_3 . 199105560 .
  5. Book: What do we hear from the farmers in Dogu'a Tembien? [in Tigrinya] ]. 2016 . Hagere Selam, Ethiopia . 100 .
  6. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3763/ijas.2008.0366 Developers and farmers intertwining interventions: the case of rainwater harvesting and food-for-work in Degua Temben, Tigray, Ethiopia
  7. Book: Jacob . M. and colleagues . Geo-trekking map of Dogu'a Tembien (1:50,000). In: Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains - The Dogu'a Tembien District . 2019 . SpringerNature . 978-3-030-04954-6 .
  8. Nyssen. J.. Naudts. J.. De Geyndt. K.. Haile. Mitiku. Poesen. J.. Moeyersons. J.. Deckers. J.. Soils and land use in the Tigray highlands (Northern Ethiopia) . Land Degradation and Development . 2008 . 19 . 3. 257–274 . 10.1002/ldr.840. 128492271.
  9. Frankl . A. and colleagues . The effect of rainfall on spatio‐temporal variability in cropping systems and duration of crop cover in the Northern Ethiopian Highlands . Soil Use and Management . 2013 . 29 . 3 . 374–383 . 10.1111/sum.12041 . 1854/LU-3123393 . 95207289 . free .
  10. Book: Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains - The Dogu'a Tembien District . 2019 . SpringerNature . 978-3-030-04954-6 .
  11. Book: Miruts Hagos and colleagues . Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains . Geosites, Geoheritage, Human-Environment Interactions, and Sustainable Geotourism in Dogu'a Tembien . GeoGuide . 2019 . 3–27 . SpringerNature . 978-3-030-04954-6 . 10.1007/978-3-030-04955-3_1 . 199095921 .
  12. Book: 2019 . Springer-Nature . 557–675 . 10.1007/978-3-030-04955-3_38 . GeoGuide . Nyssen . Jan . Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains . Description of Trekking Routes in Dogu'a Tembien . 978-3-030-04954-6 . 199271514 .
  13. Web site: Public GPS Traces tagged with nyssen-jacob-frankl.
  14. Book: Logistics for the Trekker in a Rural Mountain District of Northern Ethiopia. 2019 . Springer-Nature . 537–556 . 10.1007/978-3-030-04955-3_37 . Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains . GeoGuide . Nyssen . Jan . 978-3-030-04954-6 . 199198251 .