This Zone was selected by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2004 as one of the several areas for voluntary resettlement for farmers from overpopulated areas; no specific woredas in this Zone were identified in this program. East Gojjam became the new home for a total of 20,000 heads of households and 80,000 total family members.[2]
Demographics
Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this Zone has a total population of 2,153,937, an increase of 26.68% over the 1994 census, of whom 1,066,716 are men and 1,087,221 women; with an area of 14,004.47 square kilometers, East Gojjam has a population density of 153.80. While 213,568 or 9.92% are urban inhabitants, a further 8 individuals are pastoralists. A total of 506,520 households were counted in this Zone, which results in an average of 4.25 persons to a household, and 492,486 housing units. The largest ethnic group reported in East Gojjam was the Amhara (99.82%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.12% of the population. Amharic is spoken as a first language by 99.81%; the remaining 0.19% spoke all other primary languages reported. 97.42% of the population said they practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, and 2.49% were Muslim.[3]
The 1994 national census reported a total population for this Zone of 1,700,331 in 381,993 households, of whom 845,980 were men and 854,351 women; 145,295 or 8.55% of its population were urban dwellers at the time. The largest ethnic group reported in East Gojjam was the Amhara (99.83%); all other ethnic groups made up 0.17% of the population. Amharic was spoken as a first language by 99.88%; the remaining 0.12% spoke all other primary languages reported. 96.71% practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, and 3.18% of the population said they were Muslim.[4]
According to a May 24, 2004 World Bank memorandum, 8% of the inhabitants of East Gojjam have access to electricity, this zone has a road density of 24.2 kilometers per 1000 square kilometers (compared to the national average of 30 kilometers),[5] the average rural household has 1.1 hectares of land (compared to the national average of 1.01 hectare of land and an average of 0.75 for the Amhara Region)[6] and the equivalent of 0.6 heads of livestock. 11.4% of the population is in non-farm related jobs, compared to the national average of 25% and a Regional average of 21%. 66% of all eligible children are enrolled in primary school, and 13% in secondary schools. 61% of the zone is exposed to malaria, and 30% to Tsetse fly. The memorandum gave this zone a drought risk rating of 447.[7]
