1.

Introduction

1.1. Background of the Study

The region of Ormia is the largest in its geographical coverage and its population. Its land
is fertile and resourceful for the production of different crops and rearing of animals. Afan
Oromo and the Oromo people were the most marginalized and subjugated sections of the
society (Hussein, 2008). Its natural resources and people were dominated by the expansion
of the Christian highlanders of the Shoan rulers. As rooted in the culture of the Oromo,
land is part of their daily life in which they determine their today’s life and tomorrow’s
generation continuity (Abbas, 1982). They give a value to land to the extent that ‘without
land, there is no hand’ (my emphasis). Therefore, the Oromos and their land are one and
the same or they are inseparable. One cannot exist without the existence of the other.
Therefore, there is no way to detour this bond of attention by any means, be it by force, or
course of action or arms. That was/is why there is a strong motto of land in Afan Oromo
as ‘Laftii Lafee’ or in English translation as ‘land is bone’, which cannot be inseparable
from their life to exist. In line with this, by giving valuable credit to the relation between
land the Oromo, Tesema Ta’a has noted that , “land has eyes and ears and could act
upon men who usurped the rights of the rightful owners even long after the latter had
died or moved elsewhere (2002). Therefore, the Oromos prefer to die than to be
prohibited of their land in which they live on and nourish the coming generation or their
next replicas.

Arsi-Oromo as a province was born from three Awrajas or sub-provinces. However, with
the changing of political system and its governance, it was again divided into East and
West Arsi zones. Out of the two zones, the former comprises 26 woredas and 63 towns
whereas the latter consists of 13 woredas and 3 towns as seat of the woredas. Thus, the
focus of this study is mainly towards the east Arsi in which Shirka district and Gobessa
town, which is the seat of the study woreda is part of this study. The remaining districts or
woredas are: Honqolo-Wabe (named after Honqolo Mountain), Lemu and Bilbilo, Digalu
and Tijo, Munessa, Arsi-Robe, Hexosa, Lode –Hexosa, Dodota, Chole, Ogolcho, Tiyo,
Gololcha, Sude, Sire, Asako, Marti, Jaju, Abomsa, Diksis, Guna, Balle, Amigna, Tena,
Seru (Appendix I).

1
With the availability of its large fertile land and grassing land, the Arsi Oromo made
their life of existence mainly based on pastoralism and pastoralist activities that comprised
rearing of animals, sheep, goats, multiplied by the consumption of their products of milk,
meat and others. In the agricultural activities, the people of Arsi in general and the people
of Shirka district in particular were known with their cultivation of barley and wheat and
due to lack of availability of market they were urged to go to Huruta and Sire market of
barely by making a long journey out of their production area. However, the Arsi Oromo
and the Shirka district made cultivation of crops in general and that of barely in particular
as part of their cultural activity and religiously as a healing medicine. With this notion,
Tesema Ta’a has stated, “…. For instance, a close observation of Oromo traditions
reveals that barely was the sacred crop of the Oromo farmers, used in cultural rituals,
in marriage ceremonies, and on various religious occasions. Therefore, the people
of Oromo Arsi consider land as their part of life or bone and that was why they made firm
resistance against the conquest of Menilek II and his army, the reign of Hailesilassie, the
derg regime and still today.

This study aims to assess the economic history of East Arsi zone, Shirka district from
1941-1995. The year 1941 was taken as a starting point due to its historical significances
in the area under study in which the restoration of the imperial administration had a
paramount effect on the economic history of the woreda. By the same token, the year 1991
was also a remarkable period that brought an end to the Derg regime which had significant
impact on the economic life of the people of the district. Likewise, the 1995 was a
historical year that signified the transition of the country from unitary system to federal
state structure that had given equality to all nations, nationalities and peoples of the
country thereby paving the way for the division of power between federal government and
regional states.

The study uses qualitative research method, explanatory research design and non-
probability sampling out of which purposive sampling technique will be used. The sources
of data will be mainly secondary data sources.

2
1.1.2. Background of the Study Area

Shirka is one of the 26 districts of Arsi zone. The historical name of the district was
derived from Serko clan of Arsi Oromo that occupied during the Oromo mobilization.
Gobessa town is the seat of the district. Shirka is one of the administrative units of Arsi
Zone. Astronomically, it is located between 7 008’18’’N-7028’08’’N Latitude and
39016’36’’E-39053’18’’E Longitude. Relatively, the district shares a boundary line with
Honkolo Wabe district in the south, Lemu & Bilbilo in the west, Digelu & Tijo district in
the north - west, Tena district in the North, Robe district in the east and Bale Zone in the
south- east direction. The district has total area coverage of 1163.33 Km 2; it shares 5.5%
of the total area of the Arsi Zone. The altitude of this woreda ranges from 350 to 1350
meters above sea level. Shirka district is largely characterized by special features ranging
from plateau to slop “very gently rolling countryside” and “consists of a network of low
laying and interwoven topography”, with average elevation of about 3000 meters above
sea level. The topography of this district ranges from 2000 to 3050 meters above sea level;
Mount Duro is the highest pick point (Appendix I).

As the district has enough amounts of rainfall and moisture for agricultural production,
people are permanently settled. Similarly, as there are enough streams and rivers in their
vicinity, the community’s move from place to place in search of grazing areas and water
for their cattle is very limited except for the movement from rural to urban areas for better
living standard. A survey of the land in this woreda shows that 21.4% covers arable or
cultivable, 6.3% covers pasture or pastoral land, 2.7% covers forest, and the remaining
69.6% covers swampy, mountainous or unusable. Pepper, black and white cumin and
fenugreek are important cash crops in the area.

With regard to industry in the woreda, there were 10 grain mills employing 31 people, 671
registered businesses of which 23% were wholesalers, 40% retailers and 36% service
providers. There were 32 Farmers Associations with 14,991 members and 6 Farmers
Service Cooperatives with 14,315 members. Shirka has 77 kilometers of dry-weather and
22 of all-weather road, for an average road density of 91.6 kilometers per 1000 square
kilometers, 34 kilometers of road between Gobesa and Bekoji, and 15 kilometers from
Gobesa to Tareta are in the planning stages. About 51.1% of the total population has

3
access to drinking water (Shirka Woreda Economic Development Office). According to
the woreda agricultural office the total area of the woreda is about 109,300 hect with the
cultivated area of 58,000 hect. From the total area, 22 % high land (dega), 32 % medium
(woina dega) and 46% low land (kola). The major crops grown in the region are Wheat,
Barley, Teff, Maize and Sorghum. Spices and other different crops are also grown in large
quantity in the area. Shirka is one of the highest productive and surplus production areas
in the zone.

Moreover; live stocks production is common in the area. Many rivers are available
covering the whole area but no enough irrigation (both modern and traditional) facilities.
The 2007 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 163,823, of whom
81,812 were men and 82,011 were women; 12,494 or 7.63% of its population were urban
dwellers. The majority of the inhabitants said they were Muslim, with 54.19% of the
population reporting they observed this belief, while 45.52% of the population practiced
Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.

The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 112,743, of whom
56,527 were men and 56,216 women; 6,642 or 5.89% of its population were urban
dwellers at the time. The two largest ethnic groups reported in Sherka were the Oromo
(71.83%), and the Amhara (26.83%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.34% of the
population. Oromiffa was spoken as a first language by 65.98%, and 33.91% spoke
Amharic; the remaining 0.11% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority
of the inhabitants professed Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity (CSA, 1994, Map in east
Arsi zone office).

4
1.2. Statement of the Problem

It is obvious that the region of Oromia is large in its geographic coverage and it population
in the country. Arsi is one of the homes of world class athletes in the country in general
and oromia region in particular. Arsi zone, especially the so called Chilalo Awraja,
held the highest concentration of commercial farms in Ethiopia. That was why Arsi
attained the top position among the commercial agricultural centers of Ethiopia
for it was favored by favorable climate, fertile soil and land setting. However, the
confiscation, appropriation and privatization of Arsi land in which the rightful owners of
land entirely lost their land to the new naftagna settlers and the Arsi farmers became
gäbbars on their own land it was followed by the land tenure system that was
characterized by the expansion of privatization and the monopoly of land in the hands of
a few rich people (Tariku, 2008). The major factors that inhibited the development of
agriculture are said to be discrepancies in the old land tenure system, inclusion of
traditional methods of farming, lack of home tested innovations and the absence of
extension schemes.

Thus, the imperial government did not manage producers and commercial mechanized
agriculture within their own perspectives; the expected change and development
from the agricultural sector was not achieved as a result. The other problems were
commercial farming and other related land grabbing by the new comers that continued
to have their own adverse effects on the indigenous people by evacuating them from
their own land. On the other hand, the other problem was fragmented market
infrastructure and subsistence farming had limited the agrarian economy to provide the
society with sufficient production and productivity. Thus, the situation has brought
about a process of polarization in rural agricultural communities in Arsi and its
districts and the number of poor and landless people steadily increased.

In addition, the government had controlled the market for agricultural

production through a monopoly. It set the prices for agricultural products, invariably
below market levels, and then forced the peasants to sell pre determined amounts of
cereals; individual farmers were discouraged by the imposed higher taxes on them and
were threatened by the cadres that resulted in absence of justice, lack of autonomy,

5
good governance and socio-economic crises in Arsi and specifically in Shirka district.
Thus, the overall situation of the land usage and system of governance and its injustices
built into the feudal relations of production and forceful occupation of their land that
finally led to violence of Arsi Oromo against their influence on their land until the
outbreak of the revolution of 1974 and the land reform of 1975 (ibid).

During the derg regime, the cadres were able to alienate individual farmers from their
former possession and relocate them in marginalized plots in the pretext of
cooperativization, the state replaced the landlord as the owner of land in the name of
agrarian reform that had given the state ultimate rights over the disposition of land. This
resulted in the extreme socio-economic crises in Arsi zone and in its districts. Thus, there
is no doubt that Article 40(3) of the current constitution (1995) which states, “The right to
ownership of rural land and urban land, as well as natural resources, is exclusively
vested in the state and peoples of Ethiopia and land is a common property of
Nations, Nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia and shall not be subject to sell or to other
means of exchange”. However, this is also more of rhetoric than practical.

Thus, the problem of the communal ownership of land had turned into private holding;
tenure insecurity was the major constraint of the rural economic development followed by
the state was given the right to control land. As a result, the Arsi Oromo and its
districts in general and Shirka in particular had communal ownership of land but lost
their land due to land alienation, conquest and expansion. Thus, the indigenous
people were turned to become landless and became gabbar on their own land followed
by commercial agriculture that had brought about several adverse effects on the
condition of farmers in the study area. For instance, in Sirka Iyyasu’s resta-gult was
transferred to Zawditu after his downfall and later to Hayla Sellasie; while Ras Dasta
Damtew was offered the land of the Hella clan in Shirka. With this in mind, the study
was conducted to analyze and historicize a comprehensive historical study on Shirka
district’s economic history that covers the period ranging from 1941-1995 (Tariku, 2008,
FDRE, Const. 1995).

6
1.3. Objectives of the Study

1.3.1. General Objective

The general objective of the study is to analysis the economic history of Shirka district from
1941- 1995.

1.3.2. Specific Objectives

The specific objectives of the study will be:

 To explore the economic activities of Shirka district

 To examine and historicize the economic history of Shirka district during the imperial
and military regime
 To assess the challenges of the economy of Shirka district in the imperial and military
regime and the current federal state structure.

1.4. Research Questions

The study will answer the following research questions:

1. What are the economic activities in Shirka district?

2. What is the economic history of Shirka district during the imperial and military regime?

3. What are the challenges of the economy of Shirka district in the two regimes and current
federal state structure?

1.5. Significance of the Study

The major significance of the study is

 To contribute to historical knowledge production hitherto limited to few works

 To serve as an important input for other researchers to do the same differently
 To contribute in widening our understanding concerning with the area under the study
 To indicate some directions in the reconstruction and examination of the economic
history of Shirka district

7
1.6. Scope of the Study

Regarding to the scope of the study, it is delimited to the historical study on the economic life in
Shirka district in Arsi zone.

1.7. Limitation of the Study

The limiting factors are budget, lack of attention and timely response from the concerned bodies
and respondents can be mentioned as limiting factors that hinders the study to some extent.

1.8. Organization of the Study

This study comprises five chapters. Chapter one comprises introduction, background of the
study, statement of the problem, research questions, objectives of the study, limitation of the
study, scope of the study, and organization of the study. Chapter two deal with review of related
literature. Chapter three deal with research methodology. Chapter four deal with data
presentation, interpretation and analysis or discussion of results. Chapter five deal with
conclusion and recommendation.

8
References

A map in Eastern Arsii Zone Administration Office

Abbas Hadji, “A History of Arsii (1880-1935),” B.A. Thesis (AAU)
Central Statistical Agency, 1994
Husein Jima (2008). The politics of language, power and pedagogy in Ethiopia: Addressing
the past and present conditions of the Oromo language. Australia

Informants: Hadji Abubeker Jibo and Hadji Gemeda Hedeto

Shirka Woreda Agricultural Office
Shirka Woreda Economic and Development Office

Tariku Dagu (2008). Transformation of Land Tenure and the Role of Peasant

Associations in Eastern Arsi (1974-1991): A Thesis Presented to the School

of Graduate Studies, Addis Ababa University

Tesema Ta’a, “Bribing the land”: An appraisal of the farming systems of the
Maccaa Oromo in Wallagga,” in North East African Studies, Vol. 9 No. 3, 2002
The constitution of the FDRE, 1995