Abstract:
The Awash valley is located at the beginning of the great African Rift valley,
which extends from the Red Sea Coast of Ethiopia to Tanzania. The widest part
of the valley is located in the north-eastern part of Ethiopia with areas ranging
in altitude from 60 meters below sea level in the Danakil depression in the
north-east to 1200 meters above sea level around the lakes Chamo and Abyata area
of the south. The estimated length of the valley in Ethiopia is 1100 km.
The inhabitants are predominantly Afars, but a good number of Oromos and
Issas occupy the Upper Awash and the eastern flank of the Middle Valley respectively.
Regardless of their ethnic make up, the people inhabiting the Awash
valley are nomads with exception of few who practice agriculture in the Awash
delta of Afambo. In the delta, the main crops cultivated are; sorghum, maize,
sesame and date palm, •with cotton making up the remainder. All in all, an
estimated 40,000 hectares of land are under cultivation along the Awash river,
of which 85% is cropped with cotton. If irrigation water permits, 70-100,000
hectares of land could be available for cultivation in the Middle and Lower
Awash valley alone.
The climate of the area is characterized as semi-arid with annual rainfall
of about 400 mm. The mean annual temperature is nearly 26°C with May, June
and July reaching 36°C maximum. The soils of the Awash valley are classified
as volcanic and alluvial deposit. The soils are rich in major nutrients.
Experiments conducted during the past 20 years show, that apart from cotton,
tobacco and horticultural crops, other food and industrial crops are well adapted.
The most promising of them are sesame, groundnut, wheat, maize, cowpea, kenaf
and wide variety of forage crops*. ‘ Although enough data with regard to
varieties evaluation and the husbandry required to grow them are available, none
of the crops mentioned are raised on a commercial scale in the valley.
